Imaging the Metahuman [for project AURORA]
Graham Budgett 2012


Long imagined and imaged in popular culture, the engineered human is an imminent reality, yet remains without expression - without a face - in the real world of physical identity and social interaction. Further, as noted elsewhere, "The body's most legible surface is simultaneously a personally and a socially acceptable expression of the otherwise invisible human psyche." The human face is viewed as a display, the hardware interface relaying the results of software running on the inside - bugs and all.

The obvious and difficult ethical question arises, "What kind of person is to be engineered?" In a partial and somewhat trivial response, here is a simple web application capable of iterating a demography of composite facial 'looks' suitable for randomly imaging possible future appearances for metahumans.

Face Database: Minear, M. & Park, D.C. 'A Lifespan Database of Adult Facial Stimuli', 2004. Thanks to all who permitted their likeness to research.