Italy seeks world beauty queen, in pixels
Friday, November 7, 2003

Miss Digital World

MILAN, Italy (Reuters) -- The movie star Sophia Loren may have been the icon of 20th-century Italian beauty but times have changed and now she's being challenged for her crown by virtual divas in the first "Miss Digital World" competition.

A new beauty contest kicking off in Italy next week will give pixel-perfect pin-ups the chance to steal sultry Sophia's sex-symbol status.

"Miss Digital World" is the first beauty contest reserved for the likes of video game heroine Lara Croft, computer-cloned actresses from the "Matrix" films and new beauties tweaked to perfection with 3D graphics.

Digital artists, advertising agencies and video game programmers from around the world have been asked to send a computer design of their perfect woman to www.missdigitalworld.com, complete with date of birth and body measurements.

"Every age has its ideal of beauty, and every age produces its visual incarnation of that ideal from the Venus de Milo in ancient Greece to Marilyn Monroe in the 1960s," Franz Cerami, the creator of the competition, said.

"Miss Digital World is the search for a contemporary ideal of beauty, seen through virtual reality," he told Reuters.

Designers will programme their contestants to parade along a virtual catwalk, and there'll be a virtual presenter and virtual guests who will help create the atmosphere of a beauty contest.

The winner will be crowned at a flesh-and-blood conference in November 2004 and Cerami hopes the digital queen will go on to greater things with roles in video games, virtual reality films and adverts.

But beware those who think beauty need only be screen-deep. The virtual world has its ethical rules too.

"They should not have taken part -- not even as extras or cameos -- in pornographic films, shows or plays nor have made statements...in any way out of tune with the moral spirit of the competition," organizers said.

for some reason i'm not being allowed to post images or urls so i'll just paste the url if you're interested in seeing one of the creations, kaya.

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/11/07/digital.diva.reut/index.html

ferret

I'm lost

OLD SKOOL

NOV 08, 2003 06:13 AM

here is a better pic of kaya (i just did some research)

http://www.raph.com/3dartists/artgallery/alceu_baptistao1.jpg

whoa. can we make her an honorary SG?

(ps - that site has some really nice 3D graphic artists on it...)

a548456

United Kingdom

OLD SKOOL

NOV 08, 2003 06:40 AM

Holy shit, that almost looks like a photo of a real girl, not something CGI.

I think with all the virtual lovelies in games and film nowadays, I think poor Lara might find herself playing the ugly sister rather than Cinderella and get more sympathy votes than anything else. I'd vote for Rayne from BloodRayne, and maybe the blonde girl from Dead or Alive

Spike

[Edited on Nov 08, 2003 by Spike]

Morgan

SUICIDEGIRL

Illinois, USA

NOV 08, 2003 09:38 AM

Now that's just silly.

On a more serious note, I'm sick of people trying to define some "perfect" woman. Gattaca much?

Mike11

Titusville, FL

OLD SKOOL

NOV 08, 2003 10:21 AM

Thats not a real girl?! Damn !

grahf

New York, NY

September 2002

NOV 08, 2003 11:01 AM

At least they'll probably be less phony than some previous beauty queens.

Grey

SUICIDEGIRL

Virginia, USA

NOV 08, 2003 05:12 PM

no, kids, it's not good enough anymore to look like a model--now you have to be PIXILATED!
i dare whoever had the idea for a virtual beauty pagent to spend one day outdoors without a computer.
of course, look who's talking.

Synnove

SUICIDEGIRL

New Brunswick, Canada

NOV 08, 2003 10:16 PM

thanks for finding that picture ferret...

i think i'm the only one that thinks this is actually cool/interesting and not viewing it as people trying to find the 'perfect' woman, but just more so of how far cgi has come.

SoEffinHappy

Philadelphia, PA

April 2003

NOV 08, 2003 10:26 PM

Synnove said:
thanks for finding that picture ferret...

i think i'm the only one that thinks this is actually cool/interesting and not viewing it as people trying to find the 'perfect' woman, but just more so of how far cgi has come.

Sorry but you're totally wrong, I just got off the phone with the runner of this pageant and he told me "I couldn't care less about CGI, I just want women to have an even MORE impossible standard to live up to."
Who knew?

wigglefree

I'm lost

October 2003

NOV 08, 2003 10:55 PM

I think it fucking sucks just because it is such a predictable progression of society/technology/popular obsession. In my opinion, shit like this is a waist of time.

r00kers

Nederland, CO

February 2003

NOV 08, 2003 11:05 PM

Damn, the pixels have been drinking again.

huk

Evanston, IL

October 2003

NOV 09, 2003 07:53 AM

very pygmalion idea. and her ears are almost pointy. How much you want to
bet that she has a tiny waist, small butt and humongous breasts?

huk

Evanston, IL

October 2003

NOV 09, 2003 07:54 AM

very pygmalion idea. and her ears are almost pointy. How much you want to
bet that she has a tiny waist, small butt and humongous breasts?

unravled

Portland, OR

August 2003

NOV 09, 2003 08:14 AM

I want a waist of time!

MisterJesus

United Kingdom

November 2002

NOV 09, 2003 08:17 AM

Erm? why do we need this when the world already has a perfect woman in it, PERFECT

a548456

United Kingdom

OLD SKOOL

NOV 09, 2003 08:22 AM

You're not the only one, I think it's very interesting too. In all honesty, the only tell tale signs that Kaya is CGI rather than Flesh and Blood is the texture of her lips, and the shadows in her ear. Other than that, the detail is amazing, the texture of the skin on her nose is perfect, the stray hairs around the hairline and eyebrows, and there are even blood vessels in her eyes (including light refractions through the whites) It's an incredible piece of art (not ass) and it would be interesting to see the other 'contestants'. I can just imagine a digital Lara crying in the corner that she's all pixilated and ugly compared to the others

Spike

Caz

SUICIDEGIRL

United Kingdom

NOV 09, 2003 08:25 AM

Synnove said:

i think i'm the only one that thinks this is actually cool/interesting and not viewing it as people trying to find the 'perfect' woman, but just more so of how far cgi has come.

I don't see it as about perfection either. I think graphics nowadays are incredable, and this is just another little way to pay homage to those talented people who create something amazing! I love this type of thing!

MustiMan

Finland

OLD SKOOL

NOV 09, 2003 08:28 AM

If Scott Adams is right (inThe Dilbert Future), we are seeing here the first signs of the doom of the humankind. Combine these graphics and the advances in neuro-interfaces and you almost get a working virtual reality, from which nobody wants to get out after they once get in...

grahf

New York, NY

September 2002

NOV 09, 2003 08:32 AM

I dunno. At first I liked both of the example pictures I saw, but the more I looked the less I liked them. That's completely the opposite of looking at a picture of a real person, which I tend to appreciate more the more I look at it.

It is definitely amazing CGI though. I remember shelling out $10 to see FF: Spirits Within in the theaters, even though I knew the story was gonna suck, just for the animation. This puts that to shame.

MustiMan

Finland

OLD SKOOL

NOV 09, 2003 08:32 AM

double post...

A link to some research on the issue added..

[Edited on Nov 09, 2003 by MustiMan]

Cherie

Providence, RI

October 2002

NOV 09, 2003 11:40 AM

MisterJesus said:
Erm? why do we need this when the world already has a perfect woman in it, PERFECT

AGREED.

Al

SUICIDEGIRL

Christmas Island

NOV 09, 2003 05:08 PM

huk said:
very pygmalion idea. and her ears are almost pointy. How much you want to
bet that she has a tiny waist, small butt and humongous breasts?

You mean like me?

djk29a

Korea, D.P.R.

April 2003

NOV 09, 2003 05:22 PM

What's interesting to me is not exactly what they'll produce but how the final thing will compare to our current "real" notions of beauty which are already present in our modern-day beauty pageants and such. I wouldn't be surprised if these artists are affected by reality in creating these virtual reality "women."

I don't think that anyone that takes this contest seriously will make a bimbo. Most geeks wouldn't want the woman of their dreams to be some bimbo without a brain. The creator will likely have some sort of "biography" to go along with their digital creation - something as intricate as their "ideal woman"'s physical features. This alone might be more interesting than the 3d model.

And I should note that there is a LOT of incredible research going on in graphics that will make the graphics of today look like stick figures 4-5 years down the road. Computer graphics is only a few decades old - one of the youngest fields in computer science in fact.

If anyone does photon mapping to render their model, I'll be really impressed. But hell, that'll take a render farm probably...

KMFCM

Peekskill, NY

September 2002

NOV 12, 2003 01:33 PM

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the reason for the Dead or Alive game series has become clear

Gwendolyn

SUICIDEGIRL

Indiana, USA

NOV 12, 2003 01:43 PM

I'm with you. I think it's incredibly neat.

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SUICIDEGIRL

New Brunswick, Canada

NOV 08, 2003 05:57 AM

ferret

I'm lost

OLD SKOOL

NOV 08, 2003 06:13 AM

a548456

United Kingdom

OLD SKOOL

NOV 08, 2003 06:40 AM

SUICIDEGIRL

Illinois, USA

NOV 08, 2003 09:38 AM

Titusville, FL

OLD SKOOL

NOV 08, 2003 10:21 AM

New York, NY

September 2002

NOV 08, 2003 11:01 AM

SUICIDEGIRL

Virginia, USA

NOV 08, 2003 05:12 PM

SUICIDEGIRL

New Brunswick, Canada

NOV 08, 2003 10:16 PM

Philadelphia, PA

April 2003

NOV 08, 2003 10:26 PM

wigglefree

I'm lost

October 2003

NOV 08, 2003 10:55 PM

Nederland, CO

February 2003

NOV 08, 2003 11:05 PM

Evanston, IL

October 2003

NOV 09, 2003 07:53 AM

Evanston, IL

October 2003

NOV 09, 2003 07:54 AM

Portland, OR

August 2003

NOV 09, 2003 08:14 AM

MisterJesus

United Kingdom

November 2002

NOV 09, 2003 08:17 AM

a548456

United Kingdom

OLD SKOOL

NOV 09, 2003 08:22 AM

SUICIDEGIRL

United Kingdom

NOV 09, 2003 08:25 AM

Finland

OLD SKOOL

NOV 09, 2003 08:28 AM

New York, NY

September 2002

NOV 09, 2003 08:32 AM

Finland

OLD SKOOL

NOV 09, 2003 08:32 AM

Cherie

Providence, RI

October 2002

NOV 09, 2003 11:40 AM

SUICIDEGIRL

Christmas Island

NOV 09, 2003 05:08 PM

Korea, D.P.R.

April 2003

NOV 09, 2003 05:22 PM

Peekskill, NY

September 2002

NOV 12, 2003 01:33 PM