Quantifying beauty: an information system for evaluating universal aesthetics

In this paper we propose that a metaphor can be used to represent domains that are not easily quantifiable and thus can be used to communicate information about those domains between the human and the computer at a cognitive and visual level. We propose a model which uses the metaphor of a human face as an interface for the perception and evaluation of universal aesthetics. 1. The problem It is well known that the aesthetic quality of a particular art or artifact such as designs, paintings, music, trigger varying responses in human observers. It is not trivial, however, to relate these responses to particular characteristics of the art or artifact. The notion ‘aesthetics of design’, for example, describes those characteristics of the design that are responsible for the appearance and perception of a design artifact, and for that part of the artifact that impacts on our emotional and mental world. In particular, it refers to the responses that indicate the degree of discrimination in perception when confronted with a design. This perception depends on the individual’s interpretation, which may arise from emotional responses and/or comparison with previous experiences. The concern for most scholars contemplating aesthetic research is (at least) twofold: how can aesthetic preference be empirically assessed; and how can aesthetic preference be compared panhumans and cross-culturally. In most instances, what counts as empirical data for aesthetic preference relies on overtly expressed or articulated views at the level of verbal discourse (van Damme, 1996). And even if these concerns were resolved, there still remains the problem of communicating such empirical data on aesthetic preference to the computer. This paper addresses the issues concerned with cross-cultural aesthetic preferences. First we discuss aesthetics and the phenomenon of universal aesthetics, then we explore the feasibility of using the metaphor of a human face as a means of evaluating aesthetic and other non-quantifiable information. We propose a model which uses the metaphor of a human face as an interface for communicating the perception and evaluation of aesthetic preference to the computer. Finally we suggest future directions for research in the area of quantifying aesthetic preference. 2. Aesthetics Aesthetics has been described as dealing with “the philosophy of the beautiful as well as with the standards of value in judging art and other aspects of human life and culture” (Lawal, 1974). The term aesthetics was first used by Baumgarten, a German philosopher, in the mid-1700s (van Damme, 1996). Fay Sudweeks and Simeon J. Simoff The criteria for aesthetics are often expressed in the form of ratios between some numeric parameters of the structure of an artifact, whether it is a musical fragment or a building skyline. The perception of aesthetics is verbally described by closely interrelated terms like style, taste, originality and beauty. Taking the example of an aesthetic design again, a style refers to designs that have identifiable common characteristics. For example, ‘federation style’ in Australian building design would usually refer to characteristics such as red brick walls with white mortar, tiled roof, bay and leadlight windows, and timber verandah columns. Personal preferences in style are connected with individual taste. Style and taste are connected with the originality and individuality of a design, although not everything original is aesthetic. Beauty is an even more abstract term and is often used to characterise aesthetics. Beauty is sometimes understood as a part of aesthetics, sometimes as a synonym of aesthetics, which introduces additional confusion. Visual aesthetic appeal, according to Berlyne (1971), depends partly on the level of arousal triggered by a stimulus. Arousal is characterised in terms of the related variables of novelty, complexity and surprisingness, and is measured by the degree of exploratory behavioural response in humans when confronted with appropriate proportions of these collative variables. 3. Universal aesthetics The possible existence of universal aesthetics has piqued the interest of scholars from many disciplines, including philosophers, psychologists, anthropologists, cultural scientists and sociologists. According to Forge (1973), the existence of a universal human aesthetic is a matter of faith with neither those supporting nor those opposing the notion of a basic or genetic response to certain forms or proportions being able to prove their beliefs. Among Westerners, there is widespread acceptance of the special aesthetic value of the famous ‘golden section’. The golden section, which has an approximate value of 0.618, guides many Western designs (Boselie, 1984) (see Fig. 1). Experimental work, however, has not supported the privileged position of the golden section in either Western communities (Eysenck, 1988) or non-Western communities (Berlyne, 1971). DESIGN C O M P U TI N G