REPORT: 'Personality traits' of automobiles studied
Reader-submitted "Cars" Photoshops - Click above for image gallery
The styling of your vehicle makes a statement, of course. Designers spend years perfecting the craft of automotive sculpture, and are finely attuned to what types of shapes and conventions send a given message. Now, the researchers want to move in and figure out how to express what the artists already know with a scientific approach called morphometrics. The practice of shape analysis, usually used for more classical studies like medicine and biology, is useful in improving healthcare equipment or possibly aiding in the identification of unknown remains.
People inherently look for faces and patterns, and the front of a car lends itself to being anthropomorphized. Professor Dennis Slice and his colleagues at Vienna University think the information gleaned from looking deeper into what the "faces" of various cars say – meek or mild appearance, for instance – and how to zero in on just what features will send the automaker's intended message. Of course, design teams already seem to be doing a good job of telling a story with design, with or without the newfangled algorithm. Possibly harder to nail down is the answer to the question of whether styling makes drivers behave differently, the next topic Slice and his team are tackling. Hat tip to Matt.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tgriffith 9:22AM (7/09/2009)
It's fun to find out what your car's face says about you!
http://www.cargurus.com/blog/2008/10/17/do-you-know-what-your-cars-face-says-about-you/
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Stuka 9:30AM (7/09/2009)
lol @tribeca.
Well, currently I have an '08 Wrangler and my trusty old J-Truck. I like the face of either, but prefer the J-Trucks.
Bird 10:25AM (7/09/2009)
Wow, that Tribeca manages to be uglier than the Aztek.
JZeke 9:34AM (7/09/2009)
A fairly mean black GL550 pulled into my mirrors this morning on I55. The look screamed, im big, expensive get the F out of my way. So, I just ignored it and kept on following the Murano ahead of me.
He swerved through lanes, and end up getting off at an exit... no quicker than it took me to get to same exit sans the crazy swerving.
Does Mercedes really want to broadcast that its customers are belligerent d-bags who can't relax?
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m 10:00AM (7/09/2009)
"no quicker than it took me to get to same exit sans the crazy swerving. "
Yes, but who had more fun getting there?
Just kidding of course. The guy sounds like a jerk. The rules are simple: Pass on the left. If there's already somebody in the left lane, sit behind them and wait for them to finish passing on the left.
Of course if they're being a leftist and just sitting in the left lane while not passing, then you have every right to flip them off, throw darts at their tires, run them off the road, call their mothers and say nasty things, etcetera because they are bad people that have no respect for the safety and efficiency of travel for those around them.
Polly Prissy Pants 10:01AM (7/09/2009)
Probably. Why do you suppose the horseshoe moustache is so popular? It says "I'm mean, and serious, and tough and angry. Don't mess with me." Well, actually it says "I'm a d-bag but I really wish people would see me as mean, and serious, and tough and angry."
Se also: Frowning in photos, the pit bull, etc.
Rich 4:52PM (7/09/2009)
@Polly: I usually disagree with you, but you're spot on here!
Bloke 10:31AM (7/09/2009)
Interesting that Autoblog are deleting all references to the new Jaguar XJ which they have yet to comment upon.
What next, the Thought Police? Clocks striking thirteen? Becoming an unperson? The Ministry of Truth?
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Redline 11:02AM (7/09/2009)
I always though the eyes need to be the headlights
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Shiftright 11:15AM (7/09/2009)
THANK YOU!!!!!!!... I mean, a car already has a face! Putting eyes on the windshield is like drawing eyes on your forehead. That's why I refuse to watch Cars.
tim 2:17PM (7/09/2009)
I can imagine this debate happening at Pixar. I saw Cars and think the eyes in the windshield worked very well anthropomorphizing the cars. With the eyes in the headlights, you'd be looking at throug the windshield at an empty driver's seat, as opposed to looking at a car as a "person". FWIW - it's a great movie.
Rich 4:49PM (7/09/2009)
You can all be right.
The face of a car is the grille + headlamps.
Pixar decided to do it "wrong" for exactly the reason mentioned. If the same logic were applied to Thomas the Tank Engine, the eyes would be way back at the driver's cab, the mouth would be between the buffers, and we'd be looking at the longest and heaviest schnozzes ever.
Redline 5:00PM (7/09/2009)
Same could be said for the Caterham, Rich. ;)
Joan of Arc 12:02PM (7/09/2009)
That's why the Mazda3 is selling so well around here! It's always happy...
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Level 1:29PM (7/09/2009)
I like mean looking cars....
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Rich 4:50PM (7/09/2009)
Like misers or summat? What are you on about?
Level 12:57PM (7/10/2009)
I have an attitude problem can't stand stupidity
DCragtop 2:31PM (7/09/2009)
guess what the Camaro (in the earlier post) says about you.....
so I think it's safe to say somebody has way too much time on their hands.
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Jason 5:24PM (7/09/2009)
So this is where Mazda got their idea for the new Mazda 3...
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/pixar-cars-photochops/121080/
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