Monday, November 30, 2009

Ed Nash, a young and promising entrepreneur from the UK, has created an iPhone application for measuring the attractiveness of one’s face - or at least a photo thereof. The ‘Fit or Fugly’ application uses the golden ratio - also called the golden mean or the golden section -, to “scientifically calculate” how attractive a photo of a human face is. Research has shown that the golden ratio - which pops up in the most unexpected places in nature, from the arrangement of branches along the stems of plants to the proportions of chemical compounds and the geometry of crystals - does indeed play a role in human perception of beauty. When key “anchor points” in someone’s face, such as the ears, eyes, chin, mouth and nose, are arranged more or less in accordance with the golden ratio, the face is likely to be perceived as beautiful. (On a side note, the Rule of Thirds, well known to photographers, has also been derived from the golden ratio by way of simplification.) Ed Nash encourages you to try out his app on a photo of yourself or anyone else to find out if you - or they - are “officially” fit or fugly.

Website: Fit or Fugly