Scientists develop new software that predicts your looks with different hairstyles

Scientists have come up with a new way that lets you imagine how you would look with a different hairstyle and colour. Not only this but it also helps show what a missing child or person might look in disguise. First you upload an input photo, you type in a search term - such as curly hair, India or 1930s, researchers said.

After which software’s algorithms search internet photo collections for similar images in that category and seamlessly map the person's face onto the results, they said.

The system called Dreambit developed by researchers from University of Washington in the US lets a person imagine how they would look with a different hairstyle or colour, or in a different time period, age, country or anything else that can be queried in an image search engine.

According to researchers, Dreambit draws on previous research in facial processing, recognition, three-dimensional reconstruction and age progression, combining those algorithms in a unique way to create the blended images.

These new features enable one to imagine what a child might look like five or 10 years into the future under different circumstances - with red hair, curly hair, black hair or even a shaved head, researchers said.

According to researchers, this software system analyses the input photo and searches for a subset of internet photographs that fall into the desired category but also match the original photo's face shape, pose and expression.