Flashed Face Distortion Effect = Caricature Effect

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

Original Gif

there's this animation spreading on the web:

face caricature

Each person's face becomes a caricature.

Here's each image of the frame.

face caricature-00 face caricature-02 face caricature-03 face caricature-04 face caricature-05 face caricature-06 face caricature-07 face caricature-08 face caricature-09 face caricature-10 face caricature-11 face caricature-12 face caricature-13 face caricature-14 face caricature-15 face caricature-16 face caricature-17 face caricature-18 face caricature-19 face caricature-20 face caricature-21 face caricature-22 face caricature-23 face caricature-24 face caricature-25 face caricature-26 face caricature-27 face caricature-28 face caricature-29 face caricature-30 face caricature-31 face caricature-32 face caricature-33 face caricature-34 face caricature-35 face caricature-36 face caricature-37 face caricature-38 face caricature-39 face caricature-40 face caricature-41

Why Does it Happen?

You don't need fancy explanation from neuro-psychologists.

This effect happen simply because you are not looking at the face directly (aka peripheral vision), and only for a fraction of a second.

You don't have full info. So, your brain constructs the most outstanding parts of a person's face, as in caricature, where facial features are exagerrated.

Just try to look at any photo of a person's face, but don't look directly, look at a point outside the picture, and you'll get the same effect.

The original source that inspired this animation of celebrities seems to be: Flashed face distortion effect: Grotesque faces from relative spaces By Tangen J M, Murphy S C, Thompson M B, Perception 40(5) 628 to 630. At http://www.perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=p6968.

here's one of the animations from that article:

flashed face distortion effect