Experiment
Experimental Design
Materials
1 Canon Z115 35mm camera
2 rolls of Black & White 35mm film
6 male students
6 female students
6 teachers
computer scanner
computer paint program to determine symmetry
Methods
First, take each subject individually and take three pictures from 10 feet away on maximum zoom. The first picture will be of the subject with no facial expression, the second of the subject smiling, and the third while the subject is talking. Then get the film developed. Get 2 prints of each picture, one how it is normally, and the second reversed, as a mirror image.
Take the first picture of each subject and scan it into a computer and, using a paint program, determine 4 different horizontal lines by measuring the points on the outermost and innermost parts of the eye corners, the leftmost and rightmost point of the nose in the lower nose region, mouth width by measuring the mouth corners. Calculate the midpoint of each line by using the formula ([Left point - Right point] / 2) + the right point. After the Midline Pixel is found, determine facial symmetry by using the standard deviation formula, by taking the 4 midline pixels, and finding the mean average, find the difference between the squares and the means, and square the differences. Then add the differences together and divide by the number of Midline Pixels (In this case, 4), and find the square root of that number. The number that is
calculated is the overall facial symmetry, the closer the number is to zero, the more symmetrical the face is.
Then, take each photograph of each subject and organize them in a photo album, and crop the pictures to show only the face, and show the pictures of the subject to themselves, inquiring which one of the two they prefer. Then inquire on the teachers photos for each subject, and ask which of them they prefer.