We've seen cheap parlor tricks used in cameras to provide a slimming look, and we’ve all seen Brittney’s heavily airbrushed spread in Bazaar. Four researchers from Tel Aviv have developed a system that could remove the human interaction from retouching photos and let machines decide just what true beauty will be. “Digital Face Beautification” can autonomously manipulate a photo of a woman's face to be more aesthetically pleasing.

The two part system analyzes the distances between facial features, and adjusts the spatial relationships to bring the photograph more in line with accepted perceptions of beauty. The perceptions are based on 200 photographs of women rated by volunteers, where facial structure and features were assigned points to weight the look that the participants found most attractive.

The changes made are minimal, almost imperceptible, but they do make a difference. Minute changes in face shape, cheekbones, nose lines, eyebrows, and lips manipulate the original photos into slightly different looks. Judging from the before and after photos I would equate the changes on par with a proper makeup job. While this might be a triumph for computer science, the makeup counter at Famous can also conjure cheekbones out of thin air.

Via Celeste Biever at NewScientistTech and Stefanie Olsen from FutureTech.