Article updated on September 1, 2021 by Byothe
Microsoft recently released a new API (Application Programmable Interface or Face Detection Programming Interface. So to test this new programming module, two engineers from the IT giant (Corom Thompson and Santosh Balasubramanian) created How-Old.net, a website that lets you guess a person's age from a photo.
To use this service, nothing could be simpler, just go to How-Old.net and choose a photo from the available photos or upload your own photo. If you are using the site from your mobile, you can even take a photo of your head directly.
The program will then analyze your image, determine your gender and finally try to estimate your age.
The engineers behind the site had designed it as a simple test and they were very surprised by the enthusiasm of the public who quickly got into the game, particularly in Turkey, following Turkish Tweets talking about the site:
It's a funny story. We expected about 35 users for a test and in the end, we had 000 users and we saw things take off in real time.
One of the reasons this site seems to have gone viral quite quickly is that it's actually not very good at guessing people's ages... which adds to the fun aspect of the site!
Jeanne Calment, who was well over 100 years old in this photo, was lucky enough to see herself rejuvenated:
In my case, it's much more annoying since the site made me 20 years too old... tough... but I think it's because of the beard!
And here are some more comments from Twitter:
Apparently doing disgusting thumb heads shaves 17 years right off your face! http://t.co/B4c3jyvHkm pic.twitter.com/tO7JcPlneK
— Meg “Wet Cheese” Lewis (@yourbuddymeg) April 30, 2015
http://t.co/XUJcyak8uv has difficulty analyzing Carbonite.#howold #Star Wars pic.twitter.com/zYEoZODstH
— Rich Boakes (@richboakes) April 30, 2015
https://twitter.com/tristanwalker/status/593840934736961536
I think it's a bit older (a millennium or so) but cool demo! http://t.co/hbvy20iFda # Build2015 #HowOldBot pic.twitter.com/4w7ECQLlQh
— Jan Vlnas (@janvlnas) April 30, 2015
Being a zombie really ages you. http://t.co/dm3VwRHmwJ # Build2015 pic.twitter.com/Hmpfv6OaZD
— Pete Pachal (@petepachal) April 30, 2015
https://twitter.com/MykroftHolmes/status/593912347724554242
https://twitter.com/jamiembrown/status/593907600506408961
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