ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Not All Faces are Alike Abraham Tamir, MD Abstract: The face is the most important vehicle of human communication because of the fact that faces are not alike. The major objective of this article is to demonstrate qualitatively and quantitatively this determination based on 108 images. The first approach is based on Figure 1, which demonstrates the following five shapes of the human face: round, square, heart shaped, oval, and long. The disadvantage of this approach is that it is based on the eye of the beholder. In other words, 2 people might decide differently for the same face shape. The second approach is a quantitative one based on the determination of face symmetry. The major conclusion in both cases is that faces are not alike. Key Words: Faces, not alike, alike (J Craniofac Surg 2014;25: 318Y320)
T
he face is the most important part in the human body and is the feature which best distinguishes a person because of the fact that different people have different shapes of faces. The only situation that different people have almost the same shape is identical twins. This is demonstrated in Figure 2 for Lech and Jarolaw Kaczynski. Faces are essential for expressing emotion, consciously or unconsciously. According to Google search results,1 there are many definitions of face among which are as follows: (1) that part of a body, having several sides, which may be seen from one point, or which is presented toward a certain direction; (2) that part of the head, especially of man, in which the eyes, cheeks, nose, and mouth are situated; (3) the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear-to-ear; (4) the face is a central sense organ complex; and (5) the front part of the head that in humans extends from the forehead to the chin and includes the mouth, nose, cheeks, and eyes. The main features of the face are as follows: (1) The forehead is the skin beneath the hairline, bordered at the sides by the temples and eyebrows and ears. (2) The eyes sit in an orbit and are protected by eyelids, which are sometimes visible, and eyelashes. (3) The human
nose shape is distinctive as are its nostrils and septum. (4) The cheeks cover the maxilla and jaw, the extremity of which is the chin. (5) The mouth, with the upper lip divided by the helipterum, sometimes reveals the teeth, which form a distinct pattern. The main features of the face are as follows: (1) The forehead is the skin beneath the hairline, bordered at the sides by the temples and eyebrows and ears. (2) The eyes sit in the orbit and are protected by eyelids, which are sometimes visible and eyelashes. (3) The human nose shape is distinctive as are its nostrils and septum. (4) The cheeks cover the maxilla and jaw, the extremity of which is the chin. (5) The mouth, with the upper lip divided by the philtrum, sometimes reveals the teeth, which form a distinct pattern. In ref.1 under the title ‘‘Human Face and Phi, the Golden Ratio,’’ an interesting fact is emphasized about the face. The face forms a golden rectangle with the eyes at its midpoint. The mouth and nose are each placed at golden sections of the distance between the eyes and the bottom of the chin. Moreover, it is demonstrated that facial beauty is related to golden ratio proportion in the face.
Application of the Article Subject The application of the article subject will be by 2 methods that will classify the 108 pictures of the real faces collected by the author. The collection is based on pictures taken by the author as well as real faces found easily in Google. In selecting the pictures, special attention was paid that they are exact front view of the image.
What Is This Box? A QR Code is a matrix barcode readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with cameras, and smartphones. The QR Code links to the online version of the article.
From the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba, Israel. Received June 25, 2013. Accepted for publication August 26, 2013. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Prof. Abraham Tamir, Ben Gurion University, Herzlya, Israel; E-mail: [email protected] The author reports no conflicts of interest. Copyright * 2014 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD ISSN: 1049-2275 DOI: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000000432
318
FIGURE 1.
Basic shapes of human face.
The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery
& Volume 25, Number 1, January 2014
Copyright © 2014 Mutaz B. Habal, MD. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery
FIGURE 2.
& Volume 25, Number 1, January 2014
Not All Faces are Alike
Symmetrical imagesVleft-left and right-rightVbased on the real face at the center.
This is important while analyzing the faces by the quantitative method. The first approach is a qualitative form based on Figure 1,2 which demonstrates the following 5 shapes of human’s face: round, square, heart shaped, oval, and long. In Figure 2, they appear in abbreviated form by R, S, H, O, and L. However, it should be emphasized that this approach is very qualitative and determination of the shape according to Figure 1 depends very much on the eye of the beholder. In other words, 2 people might decide differently for the same face shape. Thus, a quantitative approach based on face symmetry determination described below will be applied where symmetry is what occurs when one side of something mirrors the other. Facial symmetry is one of a number of traits associated with health, physical attractiveness, and beauty of a person or animal. And finally, according to results of a recent study3, the more symmetric face a person has, the lower his/her chances of developing psychological problems. Scientists discovered that people with high level of face symmetry, when the left side of the face is very similar to the
right side, have the lower chances of having psychological problems when they are 79Y83 years old. The application of the symmetry approach was as follows. For each original image of a certain person that appears in the center of each triplet in Figure 2, 2 symmetrical combinations were constructed that are based on the left part of the image and its mirror image (left-left) and on the right part of the image and its mirror image (right-right). By applying a computer software, the Jar program, which enables to determine length, surface area, and perimeter of any geometrical shape, the following sizes were measured for each triplet: face perimeter and area; distance between the pupils; mouth length, its perimeter and area; and nose length and face length, usually below the ears as well as the area and perimeter of the pupils. Then, for each of the above measurements, the following ratio C was calculated by the following equation C = [(B j A)/A]*100, where A is the numerical magnitude of each of the above quantities in the original image, B corresponds to the symmetrical image, and C is
* 2014 Mutaz B. Habal, MD
Copyright © 2014 Mutaz B. Habal, MD. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
319
The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery
Tamir
the relative deviation. In the pictures reported in Figure 2, each image is characterized by 2 numerical quantities written below. On the right appears the average of all measured C quantities that characterizes the degree of symmetry of the real image with respect to the combinations right-right and left-left. The magnitude on the left relates to the pupils and compares the difference between the area and perimeter of the 2 pupils.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS On the basis of the first qualitative approach, the following results were obtained where the author analyzed 108 faces according to the shapes presented in Figure 1: Kind of shape Number of shapes % of the shapes
L 15 13.9
R 42 38.9
S 32 29.6
H 6 5.6
O 13 12
The results indicate unequivocally that on the basis of the shapes in Figure 1, the faces shapes are different where the round shape is the maximum and the heart shape is the minimal. The conclusions drawn from the symmetry analysis are as follows: (1) All images have some degree of asymmetry. The reasons
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& Volume 25, Number 1, January 2014
for this phenomenon are (a) the fact that each half of our brain has a different function is probably a reason for the facial asymmetry, and (b) the chance is almost zero that all milliards cells that build our faces will be distributed in a complete symmetry from our birth to death. (2) In addition to faces, eye pupils are also asymmetrical with respect to their area and perimeter. In general, the asymmetry of the pupils is lower than that of the faces. (3) The following average results were obtained based on the measurements of 108 images: (a) 35% is the degree of asymmetry of the real image with respect to the combinations right-right and left-left, (b) 15% is the degree of asymmetry between the area and perimeter of the 2 pupils, and (c) the total average of a + b is 50%. On the basis of the above conclusions based on the quantitative and qualitative analyses, it can be determined unambiguously that faces are not alike. The only case that 2 faces might be alike is identical twins.
REFERENCES 1. In Google under the title ‘‘definitions of human face’’ 2. In Google under the title ‘‘shapes of human face’’ 3. http://geniusbeauty.com/news/symmetrical-face-good-mental-health/
* 2014 Mutaz B. Habal, MD
Copyright © 2014 Mutaz B. Habal, MD. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
Not All Faces are Alike Abraham Tamir, MD Abstract: The face is the most important vehicle of human communication because of the fact that faces are not alike. The major objective of this article is to demonstrate qualitatively and quantitatively this determination based on 108 images. The first approach is based on Figure 1, which demonstrates the following five shapes of the human face: round, square, heart shaped, oval, and long. The disadvantage of this approach is that it is based on the eye of the beholder. In other words, 2 people might decide differently for the same face shape. The second approach is a quantitative one based on the determination of face symmetry. The major conclusion in both cases is that faces are not alike. Key Words: Faces, not alike, alike (J Craniofac Surg 2014;25: 318Y320)
T
he face is the most important part in the human body and is the feature which best distinguishes a person because of the fact that different people have different shapes of faces. The only situation that different people have almost the same shape is identical twins. This is demonstrated in Figure 2 for Lech and Jarolaw Kaczynski. Faces are essential for expressing emotion, consciously or unconsciously. According to Google search results,1 there are many definitions of face among which are as follows: (1) that part of a body, having several sides, which may be seen from one point, or which is presented toward a certain direction; (2) that part of the head, especially of man, in which the eyes, cheeks, nose, and mouth are situated; (3) the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear-to-ear; (4) the face is a central sense organ complex; and (5) the front part of the head that in humans extends from the forehead to the chin and includes the mouth, nose, cheeks, and eyes. The main features of the face are as follows: (1) The forehead is the skin beneath the hairline, bordered at the sides by the temples and eyebrows and ears. (2) The eyes sit in an orbit and are protected by eyelids, which are sometimes visible, and eyelashes. (3) The human
nose shape is distinctive as are its nostrils and septum. (4) The cheeks cover the maxilla and jaw, the extremity of which is the chin. (5) The mouth, with the upper lip divided by the helipterum, sometimes reveals the teeth, which form a distinct pattern. The main features of the face are as follows: (1) The forehead is the skin beneath the hairline, bordered at the sides by the temples and eyebrows and ears. (2) The eyes sit in the orbit and are protected by eyelids, which are sometimes visible and eyelashes. (3) The human nose shape is distinctive as are its nostrils and septum. (4) The cheeks cover the maxilla and jaw, the extremity of which is the chin. (5) The mouth, with the upper lip divided by the philtrum, sometimes reveals the teeth, which form a distinct pattern. In ref.1 under the title ‘‘Human Face and Phi, the Golden Ratio,’’ an interesting fact is emphasized about the face. The face forms a golden rectangle with the eyes at its midpoint. The mouth and nose are each placed at golden sections of the distance between the eyes and the bottom of the chin. Moreover, it is demonstrated that facial beauty is related to golden ratio proportion in the face.
Application of the Article Subject The application of the article subject will be by 2 methods that will classify the 108 pictures of the real faces collected by the author. The collection is based on pictures taken by the author as well as real faces found easily in Google. In selecting the pictures, special attention was paid that they are exact front view of the image.
What Is This Box? A QR Code is a matrix barcode readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with cameras, and smartphones. The QR Code links to the online version of the article.
From the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba, Israel. Received June 25, 2013. Accepted for publication August 26, 2013. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Prof. Abraham Tamir, Ben Gurion University, Herzlya, Israel; E-mail: [email protected] The author reports no conflicts of interest. Copyright * 2014 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD ISSN: 1049-2275 DOI: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000000432
318
FIGURE 1.
Basic shapes of human face.
The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery
& Volume 25, Number 1, January 2014
Copyright © 2014 Mutaz B. Habal, MD. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery
FIGURE 2.
& Volume 25, Number 1, January 2014
Not All Faces are Alike
Symmetrical imagesVleft-left and right-rightVbased on the real face at the center.
This is important while analyzing the faces by the quantitative method. The first approach is a qualitative form based on Figure 1,2 which demonstrates the following 5 shapes of human’s face: round, square, heart shaped, oval, and long. In Figure 2, they appear in abbreviated form by R, S, H, O, and L. However, it should be emphasized that this approach is very qualitative and determination of the shape according to Figure 1 depends very much on the eye of the beholder. In other words, 2 people might decide differently for the same face shape. Thus, a quantitative approach based on face symmetry determination described below will be applied where symmetry is what occurs when one side of something mirrors the other. Facial symmetry is one of a number of traits associated with health, physical attractiveness, and beauty of a person or animal. And finally, according to results of a recent study3, the more symmetric face a person has, the lower his/her chances of developing psychological problems. Scientists discovered that people with high level of face symmetry, when the left side of the face is very similar to the
right side, have the lower chances of having psychological problems when they are 79Y83 years old. The application of the symmetry approach was as follows. For each original image of a certain person that appears in the center of each triplet in Figure 2, 2 symmetrical combinations were constructed that are based on the left part of the image and its mirror image (left-left) and on the right part of the image and its mirror image (right-right). By applying a computer software, the Jar program, which enables to determine length, surface area, and perimeter of any geometrical shape, the following sizes were measured for each triplet: face perimeter and area; distance between the pupils; mouth length, its perimeter and area; and nose length and face length, usually below the ears as well as the area and perimeter of the pupils. Then, for each of the above measurements, the following ratio C was calculated by the following equation C = [(B j A)/A]*100, where A is the numerical magnitude of each of the above quantities in the original image, B corresponds to the symmetrical image, and C is
* 2014 Mutaz B. Habal, MD
Copyright © 2014 Mutaz B. Habal, MD. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
319
The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery
Tamir
the relative deviation. In the pictures reported in Figure 2, each image is characterized by 2 numerical quantities written below. On the right appears the average of all measured C quantities that characterizes the degree of symmetry of the real image with respect to the combinations right-right and left-left. The magnitude on the left relates to the pupils and compares the difference between the area and perimeter of the 2 pupils.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS On the basis of the first qualitative approach, the following results were obtained where the author analyzed 108 faces according to the shapes presented in Figure 1: Kind of shape Number of shapes % of the shapes
L 15 13.9
R 42 38.9
S 32 29.6
H 6 5.6
O 13 12
The results indicate unequivocally that on the basis of the shapes in Figure 1, the faces shapes are different where the round shape is the maximum and the heart shape is the minimal. The conclusions drawn from the symmetry analysis are as follows: (1) All images have some degree of asymmetry. The reasons
320
& Volume 25, Number 1, January 2014
for this phenomenon are (a) the fact that each half of our brain has a different function is probably a reason for the facial asymmetry, and (b) the chance is almost zero that all milliards cells that build our faces will be distributed in a complete symmetry from our birth to death. (2) In addition to faces, eye pupils are also asymmetrical with respect to their area and perimeter. In general, the asymmetry of the pupils is lower than that of the faces. (3) The following average results were obtained based on the measurements of 108 images: (a) 35% is the degree of asymmetry of the real image with respect to the combinations right-right and left-left, (b) 15% is the degree of asymmetry between the area and perimeter of the 2 pupils, and (c) the total average of a + b is 50%. On the basis of the above conclusions based on the quantitative and qualitative analyses, it can be determined unambiguously that faces are not alike. The only case that 2 faces might be alike is identical twins.
REFERENCES 1. In Google under the title ‘‘definitions of human face’’ 2. In Google under the title ‘‘shapes of human face’’ 3. http://geniusbeauty.com/news/symmetrical-face-good-mental-health/
* 2014 Mutaz B. Habal, MD
Copyright © 2014 Mutaz B. Habal, MD. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
