Has the Virtualization of the Face Changed Facial Perception? A Study of the Impact of Photo Editing and Augmented Reality on Facial Perception

Augmented reality and other photo editing filters are popular methods used to modify faces online. Considering the important role of facial perception in communication, how do we perceive this increasing number of modified faces? In this paper we present the results of six surveys that measure familiarity with different styles of facial filters, perceived strangeness of faces edited with different filters, and ability to discern whether images are filtered. Our results demonstrate that faces modified with more traditional face filters are perceived similarly to unmodified faces, and faces filtered with augmented reality filters are perceived differently from unmodified faces. We discuss possible explanations for these results, including a societal adjustment to traditional photo editing techniques or the inherent differences in the different types of filters. We conclude with a discussion of how to build online spaces more responsibly based on our results.