Staying in 8 different cities, including 3 abroad, I have come across various facets of people. I was fortunate enough to\u00a0interact\u00a0with foreigners from different countries. I also observed various cultures across India, right from the North to the South.<\/p>\n
This experience truly\u00a0broadened my horizons when it came to understanding the diversification of the human race. It generated more and more queries in me\u00a0–<\/p>\n
Why do people prefer a subset of facial features over others? If they do, then is the\u00a0definition of beauty even accurate?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The\u00a0likes of such questions kept meandering like small rivers across the landscape\u00a0of my mind.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Push to\u00a0Shove<\/h3>\n
The push came\u00a0when I came across a face. This particular face forced me to aggressively find out the answers.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0couple of weeks passed, as I grappled with the questions\u00a0in my mind. I tried to\u00a0clear\u00a0the chaos out and filter it down to a few questions.<\/p>\n
It led me to wonder –<\/p>\n
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- Why are people\u00a0attracted to this face?<\/li>\n
- If they are\u00a0attracted to this face, then how\u00a0do\u00a0I prove that this is indeed an\u00a0attraction?<\/li>\n
- Was this just a layer of physical allure\u00a0under the pretense of actual magnetism?<\/li>\n
- Would there be a way to quantify and negate this reaction?<\/li>\n
- If it’s based only on aesthetic beauty, then can I\u00a0draw conclusions to prove a\u00a0relation!\u00a0The relation would be between<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n
- the beauty people saw\u00a0using their\u00a0eyes,<\/li>\n
- the attraction that processed\u00a0through their\u00a0mind and,<\/li>\n
- the emotions\u00a0they\u00a0felt through their\u00a0heart<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
6. Could a formula\/algorithm be generated for it? Subsequently, can it be converted into a product based on images and the algorithms?<\/p>\n
As I explored further, the question\u00a0kept growing like a\u00a0climber plant against my mind.<\/p>\n
The final motivation to\u00a0get an\u00a0answer came\u00a0from a most unexpected source, that is, the subject itself!<\/p>\n
And this gave birth to this new case study, The Facial Conundrum.<\/p>\n
The Path<\/h3>\n
A couple of occurrences guided\u00a0me to the approach I undertook\u00a0–<\/p>\n
\n
- A newly minted friend of mine mentioned Biotechnology as her\u00a0interest. This mention threw me\u00a0back\u00a0by almost 9 years to my school life in class 12th. In the quest to understand\u00a0the IT ecosystem and explore start ups, I had completely forgotten this aspect of mine! I remembered that I felt alive and excited when I studied that particular subject. That was because of the growing interest I had in it. I was also a school topper in it. I\u00a0was the\u00a0only one to have built the virtual simulation of a hardware equipment called the fermentor. I have never been a geek but my\u00a0interest towards the subject helped me in making big achievements.<\/li>\n
- I had recently been involved in a\u00a0conversation with a senior product manager. Over coffee,\u00a0we ended up discussing\u00a0over the various elements of a particular problem he had come across. He challenged me to use geometry to solve that\u00a0generic\u00a0problem.\u00a0Now, I have never really been a fan of Maths. But, that discussion opened my mind to the beauty of maths and\u00a0geometry.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
In basic terminology,\u00a0Biotechnology is an amalgamation of Maths and Biology. When my friend mentioned this subject, I had a Eureka\u00a0moment as\u00a0I realized as to\u00a0why did I not think about it before!\u00a0Hence, I decided to return to this school interest of mine and in turn go through the basics of geometry.<\/p>\n
The Theory<\/h3>\n
I\u00a0began researching Biotechnology. It led me to theoretical biology. Which in turn led me to bio statistics. And this led me to\u00a0an equation called the golden ratio<\/a>. It’s been stated that the likes of Leonardo da Vinci<\/a> used this ratio to build masterpieces.<\/p>\n
It has been a subject of huge contention between\u00a0scientists. But, I found the concept interesting enough to at least start my exploration.<\/p>\n
The Subject<\/h3>\n
As a product guy,\u00a0a part of my job is to simplify decision making with few resources at\u00a0hand.\u00a0That entails utilizing data as well. But, the data could be limited or there could be no data at all!<\/p>\n
I faced the classic case of utilizing my instinct\u00a0and analytical brain with limited access to the\u00a0subject.<\/p>\n
The Control<\/h3>\n
I will be using my own face as\u00a0the control for this study.<\/p>\n
Before a techie, I deem myself\u00a0as an artist.\u00a0In order to visualize and build things, an artist can get inspired from the simplest of things in mother nature. Or can take motivation from random strangers in the world.<\/p>\n
The famous Indian\u00a0painter, Mr. M. F. Hussain<\/a>, was supposed to have considered the successful actress\u00a0Madhuri Dixit<\/a>, as his muse.<\/p>\n
In similar fashion, I had my own muse for this particular\u00a0case study.\u00a0The face that made me ask such questions, belonged to my above mentioned friend.<\/p>\n