Still more mystery photos!

Did you miss the cut-off for the Casual Fridays study last week? Now's your chance to see more mystery photos. In this post, you'll find eight new versions of the photos -- ones which didn't appear in the original study. Each photo is followed by a poll so we can track responses. The idea is to see how little information it takes to recognize and possibly identify a face. It's been established that people can reliably discern faces from non-faces with 12 × 14 pixel images, but how about for smaller images?

As you can see, these pictures vary from 20 pixels wide down to just 6 pixels wide, so it will be interesting to see the results! Here we go...

Picture 1:

i-20bc8a01d585e81c75fa9beb34dbd640-p8.gif

Picture 2:

i-bbc0be289f00bbdf0910b740d5edd06a-p1.gif

Picture 3:

i-c25d6e1b3cbc3c08f937d8008b0b94bf-p7.gif

Picture 4:

i-0748773e19f671b28382f0d1c8a7a89e-p6.gif

Picture 5:

i-9a9859e18113fd66dfd1e7bbf6c71e8a-p2.gif

Picture 6:

i-98fb97d396a87dd5313943de93b01ea7-p3.gif

Picture 7:

i-01634c66496378cfcdec6f1a57bcd291-p5.gif

Picture 8:

i-bda9f5e67b4c99661d34ed6b88727253-p4.gif

Sorry for the bright red poll entries -- my tried-and-true polling site is down, so I had to find a quick substitute.

If you think you can precisely identify any of these photos (for example, "George Washington," "The Golden Gate Bridge"), post your guesses in the comments. In order to maximize participation, let's limit this to two guesses per commenter.

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Too annoying. First, there's the "no editing after submission" popup that I see after every single radio button selection.

Second, shouldn't there be an "I have no idea" choice? There are a couple where neither "yes" nor "no" seems like an acceptable answer ...

By Scott Belyea (not verified) on 26 Feb 2007 #permalink

#1 looks like dubya

Scott--

Again, Quimble is down so this is the best polling site I could find on short notice. Any suggestions on a better polling engine?

Lindsey -- No, not Dubya.

When I'm not sure, I get up and go across the room (or even out into the hall). It's generally easy to tell what I'm looking at from that distance, interestingly enough.

Number 3 looks like Angelina Jolie, though that may be wishful thinking.

Number 3 - Angelina Jolie
Number 4 - Super Mario (as in Mario Bros.)

#1 is Barack Obama

#1 looks like a young-ish Sean Connery to me

I immediately thought "Johnny Mathis" when I saw #1, but that might be the picture of Johnny Cash from the cover of Folsom Prison Blues, too.

I somehow managed to submit "yes" for #6, even though it's obviously a book. I know, I know, the pop-up was supposed to make me double check. Sorry.

Anyway, subtract one "yes" answer from #6, and make it "no" instead.

P.S. I agree with Phronk; #2 looks like a small black terrier (which is what I said when I took the quiz on Friday).

I thought #1 was Barak Obama too.
#2 is a cathedral, probably Notre Dame.
#3 I didn't get Angelina Jolie until the second time I saw it.
#4 looks like an old portrait of a guy with big mutton chops.
#5 looks like the "Mars face".
#6 was much easier to identify this time.
#7 is either a small boy or an Asian woman.
#8 is a boat, or maybe the top of lighthouse?

By Dr. Barnardo (not verified) on 26 Feb 2007 #permalink

In most pictures, it is the hair, more than any other feature that gives away the face. I found myself looking for that more than anything else. You should throw in a couple of pictures of bald people and see how well people do. :)

By IllinosChainsawDiner (not verified) on 26 Feb 2007 #permalink

Barnardo--

#2 is Notre Dame

You're onto something with #7

Chris--

You're absolutely right -- #8 is an SUV.

So no one has yet got 4, 5, or 7.

4 and 5 make sense since they're the lowest-res photos. Interesting that 7 is also giving trouble.

I think the first one is Edward R. Murrow and the second one is Audrey Hepburn.

I also think #7 looks like an Asian woman, or maybe one of those Asian masks (i'm not sure what they are called).
#4 looks like a rubber ducky to me.

Is number 4 Napoleon? I'd have no idea, except for seeing a previous higher resolution photo on the last quiz...

By K Bescherer (not verified) on 27 Feb 2007 #permalink

#5 is osama bin laden

IS there any angelina julie?
and last one is her home?

1 looks like barack obama
3 could be angelina jolie
6 is a book
7 is too pixelated to have any features that could identify the person. but not too pixelated to look like a face.