It?s probably flooding your Facebook feed (and if it hasn?t yet, you can start the trend in your own social circle): The Microsoft-developed how-old.net tool, where you can upload a photo and then find out (in seconds!) how old you supposedly look.?
The tool is going viral worldwide, as users clamor to upload selfies for analysis ? and to compare results with significant others, family members, and friends.
The magic behind the tool involves Microsoft?s face detection application programing interface (API) tools, combined with its Azure developer platform to intelligently ?read? human faces.?
While Microsoft hasn?t given away its secret sauce by detailing exactly what the face detection is assessing, leading dermatologists and plastic surgeons have a pretty good idea what clues a tool that distinguishes age is likely looking for. Here are some ways our faces can be dead giveaways of our age:?
SKIN
As we all know, a classic indicator of age is wrinkles ? though not all wrinkles are equal. ?There is a medical grade wrinkle scale that evaluates the severity of lines, which is likely the basis of this software,? plastic surgeon Julius Few, MD, director of the Few Institute for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, tells Yahoo Health. Tone and texture also changes, as pores become more prominent and skin gains crepiness with age. Brown spots caused by accumulated ultraviolet ray (UV) damage appear, as well as increased redness and broken capillaries, adds dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital?s Department of Dermatology.?
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