Digital manipulation of a person’s facial image has to go a long way before people stop believing the face is theirs.
Japanese researchers found that “self-identification boundaries” were remarkably wide in a world of deep fakes and digital manipulation.
Dr Shunichi Kasahara, a researcher in the Cybernetic Humanity Studio at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), led the research which used real-time morphing of facial images to judge when people stopped identifying with their own faces.
He found that even in the case of deepfakes, people still felt a connection with their identity.
“This suggests that even when we see a fake or manipulated version of our image, for example, someone else using our face, we might still identify with that face,” he said.
“Our findings raise important questions about our perception of self and identity in the digital age.”
The results, published in Scientific Reports, asked participants to watch their image morph and press a button when they felt that the image was no longer them.
The experiment was done with the image changing from self to other and other to self.
“It’s like watching your face in a mirror as you move it and you identify yourself, but your face slowly changes up to a point and you realize this is no longer you,” Dr Kasahara said.
The full report is on the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology website.
