Facial Recognition

Cool face art! Wonder how long it took to do that.

Great photography skills bobinson!

Nice photo, bobinson!

I was surprised by the large number of hits to my photo and alas I am here.

Its a nice thought friend and I am glad that you used my photo along with the idea.

Related:

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3435/3219641497_31a1ddd113_m.jpg" alt="two candidates">

What's this tell us related to Samir's post?

Photo credit Andrea Mann

Agree with what everyone said about faces. True and important.

BUT ... what you have is not a Web site, not a home page, but a blog. What do you and your readers think about making that same emotional connection from a more static Web site home page that must promote, navigate, serve, etc... users from many various backgrounds?

Glad I found this post Chris. This is so true.

Another point is the type of picture and what it conveys. Happy, confident, cocky, etc. But, then again, you want to make people stop and think and take notice. Sometimes it's the stupid irritating commercials that gets remembered.

Makes me wonder about the picture of the lady on our site? Seriously, I've had people comment a long time ago that she was interesting ... however she seems smug, as Sienfeld said, "Oh, he sooo smmmuugg" ...

Who knows it could've given some people the shivers so they left our site?!

Anyway, this is a great post and it lead me to read around your site .... like that Twitter post. Memphis ... that was funny.

Thanks.

Faces humanize us. The person behind the face each his or her own unique story to tell, which makes every face, even the faces of identical twins, different. Posting faces on your site recognizes the humanity of the world. I like this idea. I might emulate it. I'm a bit confused though: if faces humanize us, then hiding faces behind masks or makeup somehow removes our humanity. As much as I like the makeup job on the face you chose here, why choose a hiding face to talk about the importance of faces?

Nancy

excellent point, for many of us facial expressions draw us into the story and make an instant connection. A face can tell so much more than the story surrounding it. I have just started reading more about facial recognition. Very interesting. Great picture too.

@Dustin: hey Dustin... I figured it out :-P

Hehe... Thanks.

It's also a good thing to note that men are more likely to judge people by their faces much more than women... interestingly women are more prone to judge people by their voice or body.

well that's why i always keep my photo on the top right of the blog. Also when i feature any1 or a company in my posts I do try to add their photos.

For me it gives more seriousness and credibility to the blog and the post, also the point that you chris mentioned also is true!

Cheers!
Jean

The point you make is extremely valuable. I always forget how important it is to be human online and keep it real.

Chris, you do a stellar job of making sure that the smallest rocks are overturned. Very insightful.

A smart observation. We're social species in the end, we prefer having people around and have all sorts of status systems. The more the web can make us feel there are people around the more we'll enjoy (and use) it.

@Ricardo: Pretty sure Chris is using gravatar to display these avatar. If you sign up there, you'll be good on most WordPress sites and no longer be a monster or a ghost... ;)

@Dustin: heck, I do have a gravatar it just doesn't register on certain sites. On yours I see funky monsters. Here it's a blank photo. Everywhere else, I'm pimping the hat :-)

Ricardo: speaking of friends and gravatars... you gotta sign up for a gravatar yourself! ;)

I think that's why I like the ability to use Gravatars in the comments. It's pretty cool when you stop by a site and recognize some of your friends faces from around the blogosphere.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a picture of a face is worth 10,000.

Matt

Blink, it takes a second to make a judgement on a person right. Faces tell you quickly if the person is trust worthy. A very recent study by Prinston shows shapes of faces that you can trust instantly. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/graphic...

I believe if the face has features that naturally look threatening, your defensive animal instincts will kick in an initially establish a level of distrust with the person.

However I would have to say that trust can be easily lost or gained if you know what you are looking for. Ever have a feeling that someone is lying to you and they are looking straight into your eyes? Well if you get that feeling you should be looking for other facial movements/behaviours. There is an excellent book on the topic: The Truth About Lying: Everyday Techniques for Dealing with Deception

It shows you how to cut through facial expression and get down to the real person and intentions behind the smiling or frowning face.

How much coffee did you drink today Chris? No doubt the face has more to tell then just being the identity marker. As Max Piccard, a little known Swiss philosopher, said in his book 'The Human Face', the human face is a spiritual envelope.

Great insight... On a related note, when I went to build the theme for one of my sites, I wanted it to feel like a conversation was going on with my friends, so I threw a bunch of their photos into the header.

I am more prone to recognize faces more so than names. In a world where I meet new people every day. I find joy the unique qualities that people possess, and marvel at our differences. The faces on your page give it color and this pic above is an extravagent personification of that. Props!
~Vernon E.~

I agree with the hidden assumption about the importance of facial recognition.
One face - prominent on the page. The face carries a lot of information content. We use it to judge emotions. It helps with memory. It humanizes you and helps people "put a name" to the face. It's about branding. It's about recognition. It's simple and very important. Excellent post.