02/09/06 – During my travels on the web, I came across the My Heritage website. Among other things, the site features a face recognition application that compares your picture with a database of celebrity faces. After uploading a photo of yourself, the “Find the Celebrity in You” software tells you which celebrities it thinks you most look like.
Using my passport photo, here are the results from the software:
- Dennis Quaid (44%)
- Strom Thurmond (41%)
- Michael Ballack (39%)
- Ben Affleck (38%)
- Wil Smith (38%)
- Benicio Del Toro (37%)
- Carl Orff (35%)
The percentages next to each picture are what’s called a “similarity score”. The My Heritage website defines the similarity score as follows:
The similarity score: The face recognition similarity score between the face in your photo, and the matching face. Scores above 80% indicate a very likely match. The lower the score, the smaller the chances that the matching person is the same person as in your photo.
If you would like to try the facial matching software out for yourself, browse on over to www.myheritage.com. You’ll need to create an account on the website. Then you’ll be able to upload a photo and watch the system generate your results.
Of course, since the software gave me Strom Thurmond as my second most likely match, perhaps I shouldn’t be posting this…
2 Comments
Permalink
You look more like your mother to me.
Permalink
Thanks Dad,
I always knew I could count on you for being in my court!
In regards to the software, I have found that lighting and facial expression have much influence on the outcome. Depending on what photograph you use, your results will vary.