New tool to correct distortions in selfies

Washington, July 29: Scientists have developed a new way to correct distortions in selfies that creep in due to the camera’s proximity to the face, making the self portraits look like they were shot from farther away.

Selfies can often be misrepresentative and unflattering. Due to the camera’s proximity, selfies render subjects’ noses larger, ears smaller and foreheads more sloping.

To tackle this issue, researchers at Princeton University in the US have unveiled a new method for transforming selfies.

The method can modify a person’s face to look as though it were photographed from farther away, and also alter someone’s apparent pose, as if the camera were placed higher, lower or at an angle.

When superimposed, images adjusted in this manner can further be used to generate 3D head shots.

“Although it is the age of the selfie, many people are unaware of how much these self- portraits do not really look like the person being photographed because the camera is way too close,” said Mr Ohad Fried, a PhD candidate at Princeton University.

“Now that people can edit so many aspects of a photo right on their phones, we wanted to provide a quick way to edit faces that maintains realism,” Mr Fried said.

“As humans, we have evolved to be very sensitive to subtle cues in other people’s faces, so any artefacts or glitches in synthesised imagery tend to really jump out,” said Mr Adam Finkelstein, a professor at Princeton.