Skulls Gain Virtual Faces

rw2 writes "Totally cool, The guys at Max Planck Institute for Computer Science have developed a way to reconstruct a persons appearence when a skull is found. When police find a skull and want to know what its owner looked like, they generally use artists who reconstruct the face by building up layers of clay over the skull."

Oooh!

[bo0ork]

I can't wait to see what that skeleton that hangs in the biology class lab looked like when it was alive!

Re:Oooh!

[Anonymous Coward]

probably plastic.

Re:sounds useful

[Trigun]

Why stop at monkeys? Do you know how many gibbons get murdered and decapitated every day, only to be identified as "Gibbon" and put on display in museums until someone can make a positive identification? If we could talk these lower primates into visiting their dentist more often, we would be able to more accurately identify these poor John Gibbon Does.

You want to ask a real question next?

I wonder What Skeletor Looked Like before...

[thePancreas]

Finally we will know THE TRUTH!!!!

Re:Oooh!

[Anonymous Coward]

so.. Michael Jackson then?

16:40 EST, slashdotted...

[dnoyeb]

This can not be the case. This is getting rediculous.

Were going to have to start diseminating slashdot stories on a staggered Timezone based schedule.

Re:sounds useful (unfortunately it is)

[Anonymous Coward]

How often do authorities find skulls? And how often do they need to know what that person looked like?

Well if you follow the national news at all you'd know that this happens a lot more than one would like to imagine it would.

I mean I would rather see a tool that could tell if a living person's skull was empty or not,

We could start with you, oh wait, your post is just as good to answer that question.

I want one

[tlacicer]

how long before the desktop version is out?

I wonder how you would test it? They should ban this, I mean it might cause people to start killing each other just so they can see if the software really works.

What about a fat-ass?

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, how do they account for a tubby bastard? ...which nowdays is almost a certainty. That might throw off the model a bit if Skeletor is packing 350 lbs.

Re:Oooh!

[Anonymous Coward]

No, the one in my class had a normal looking nose.

Working diligently

[Lane.exe]

Scientists have reconstructed the face of Lucy, famed early human, using this technology. To little surprise, they found her primitive features closely resembled those of homo sapiens SCO executivus, a recent throwback to more primitive cultures that has surfaced in the deserts of Utah.

Re:Old news. Like, 3,000 years old.

[stratjakt]

The reconstruction scenes were silly!

Do you think Nefertiti and Akenaten sat silently next to each other, slowly turning at regular intervals to give each other shifty eyed knowing glances?

And did you see that one priest dude with the leapord skin shawl and the GIGANTANORMOUS AFRO! The Afro was bigger than him! He was the pimpinest ancient egyptian I ever did see.

And I liked that the whole conclusion that they had found nefertiti was based on "If its not Nefertiti, who else could it be?" Gee I dunno, maybe one of the other BAJILLION people who lived in egypt?

Anyways. I cant stay mad at TV. I just wish they'd stick to CGI dinosaurs.

Re:Oooh!

[hesiod]

> No, the one in my class had a normal looking nose.

I thought most skeletons didn't have noses...

Re:Great, but what are the implications?

[Experiment 626]

I'd say if your decomposed skull turns up somewhere, you have bigger problems than remaining anonymous from the police.

Re:Great, but what are the implications?

[vacaboca]

Heh. "...it seems pretty ok cause it is hard to violate a skull's rights" That's just an open invitation to perverse thoughts and snide comments! Or maybe that's just me.

CSI?!?!

[thebatlab]

This is not new. Doesn't anybody watch CSI? With the aid of computer technology they are able to zoom in on images taken from blurry security cameras to be able to tell if there is a carpet fiber on the jacket of the person in the very same picture! I'm sure they're able to fully rebuild a complete person from just the skeletal structure, muscles and all. They can probably interpolate from marks on the skeleton and thanks to that guy that knows everything he could probably help out b/c chances are he knew the guy. TV wouldn't lie to me!! Would it...?? *cowers in the corner*

Well..

[CausticWindow]

Just because your imagination limits the use for this technology, it doesn't mean that it can't be abused at all.

What if they applied it in reverse for example? They could ruin the livelihood of frenologists all over the US.

the real test

[justforaday]

what sort of results would we get if we ran michael jackson's skull through it?

Re:Pretty neat

[Fizzlewhiff]

1. Glue on pencil erasers to set the skin thickness
2. Cover with modeling clay to make the features using the erasers as a guide.
3. ???

You know the rest.

4. Profit ?

So...

[docbrown42]

...we will finally be able to see what Calista Flockhart [tktv.net] REALLY looks like?

Re:Soviet Mobs?

[Soko]

Actually in McBride's case, I'm waiting for them to find a way to reconstruct what's inside his skull, not outside. That may fall outside the prevue of real science, however.

Soko

Re:Old news. Like, 3,000 years old.

[penguin7of9]

I liked the look of the actress who played the doomed queen [...] Much more convincing than Yul Brenner, and a darn sight better looking.

Well, unless Nefertiti was a drag queen, it is perhaps not all that surprising that Yul Brynner [imdb.com] didn't make a convincing Nefertiti.

Re:Oooh!

[Captain Large Face]

I can't wait to see what Skeletor [he-man.org] looks like. But I already have my suspicions [sco.com]...

Re:How accurate is it?

[Elwood P Dowd]

Fat leaves grease marks on the rings in your bones. Like in trees. When they cut your bones open, they can see how fat you were in each year by looking at thickness and greasiness of each ring.

Dunno about eye shapes, though. Good question.

Anyone remember...

[hiei]

when MacGuyver did this years ago using eraser heads to build up the thickness of the skin and then recreate the face of a skull he found?

Re:Soviet Mobs?

[Mr_Matt]

Actually in McBride's case, I'm waiting for them to find a way to reconstruct what's inside his skull

Jeez buddy, I can tell you that [maricopa.edu] right now! :)

Re:Oooh!

[PrImED73]

Actually, its already been reported to be Victoria Beckham

Re:Soviet Mobs?

[Slack3r78]

You have somehow managed to make references to Soviet Russia, the word "base", and SCO as well as twist your sentence structure without anyone cracking any of the standard jokes. Am I on the right Slashdot? ;)