Software Reveals Reality Behind Photo Perfection (Mobiledia)
Researchers can determine the degree of digital alteration in fashion photos
of celebrities and models, giving consumers a chance to reality-check the
often unrealistic images they see.
Routine Photoshop retouching can range from slight changes, like adjusting
texture or coloring, to more drastic adjustments like erasing pounds and
adding height, creating images of genetic physical perfection. But a new tool
measures how much fashion and beauty photos have been altered, using a 1-5
scale to rate the changes from minor tweaks to major transformation, and help
alter perceptions of perfection that contribute to eating and body-related
disorders.
“Fix one thing, then another and pretty soon you end up with Barbie,” said
Hany Farid, a professor of computer science at Dartmouth College, to the New
York Times.
Farid wanted to gauge just how much photos have been altered with digital
tools after reading about European legislators’ efforts to push for a uniform
label system. Those lawmakers were looking for a way consumers could know the
extent of a photo’s digital alteration, in an effort help combat the images’
contribution to eating disorders and food anxiety, especially among young
women.
Farid teamed up with Eric Kee, a doctoral student at Dartmouth, …