My intention to scientifically determine Trixie’s preferences for the face patterns has largely come to nothing. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not running a real lab here, and on most days there’s barely enough time to get a shower, let alone conduct an experiment with rigorous methodology. Still it’s not a total waste - Trixie is highly entertained by the images. And even without hard empirical data, I’ve made a few observations:
1) She still prefers images containing a strong ratio of black to white. I should test this against some non-representational, geometric forms but there’s only so many hours in the day.
2) She likes the representations of us. Does this mean she recognizes us in the illustrations? We don’t have a good answer to that question. My guess is no. How strong is the resemblance anyway? You can see in this image the process that was used to convert photographs of us to the illustrations.
Photos are converted in a few easy steps. Just convert to black and white, and then “Enhance” in Photoshop.
3) She likes looking at all of them. Variety is the real key. So what have we learned here? Pretty much nothing. So what’s the next step? More of the same. The main goal is to keep Trixie happy and stimulated. She can definitely see much farther now - at least 10 feet. So I might try to put some larger graphics on the ceiling above her playpen. Maybe we’ll introduce color soon too.
![[GIF IMAGE]: Trixie Update Masthead](/images/TTU-Masthead-200w.gif){kind=small}
![[GIF IMAGE]: Text: Trixie Picture of the Day](/images/tpod-title.gif){kind=small}
8 responses so far ↓
1 Amanda // Sep 30, 2003 at 4:14 pm
Good Heavens!!! Ben - Trixie looks just like you in the color picture!!
2 jennifer e. // Sep 30, 2003 at 8:56 pm
Yep, Trixie does look a ton like Ben. (No paternity questions here!)
3 schaff // Oct 1, 2003 at 7:14 am
Hey scientist, you’ve put the pictures of you and Jenn closest to Trixie. Perhaps that is why she favors them. By the way, the illustration of you is a dead ringer. I don’t think Jenn looks as Sanrio-like in real life, but you definitely do.
4 Carol // Oct 1, 2003 at 3:00 pm
Trixie is your child, Ben. There’s no doubt about it - I’m notorious for saying “he/she looks just like her/his father/mother” and I’m always wrong, but this time I’m certain. There are other comments above to confirm my opinion. Golly, she’s a cute kid!
5 Ben Mac // Oct 1, 2003 at 11:38 pm
Well, those photos are not representative of all the various image arrangements we tried out. But since I didn’t keep careful track of the rotation, it definitely could be a factor. As for the resemblance, I’m glad Trixie looks like me - it cuts down on expensive DNA testing.
6 JsMom // Jan 24, 2005 at 4:37 pm
Okay, I have to know! What version of Photoshop and what platform are you using. I thought I remember a Mac somewhere in those TPods. My Photoshop doesn’t have the “Enhance” filter on the menu. Is this an extra plug-in, or am I behind the times? I admit I’m only running Photoshop 7, not CS, on my OSx mac. Anyway, dying to know. Thanks!
7 benmac // Jan 24, 2005 at 11:14 pm
JsMom I’m sorry about that - it was a joke for my graphic design friends back when the site was small
I was making fun of the way that characters on TV/movies always have an “Enhance” filter that lets them do all sorts of impossible things - like read a credit card number off the reflection in someone’s eye. I drew the illustrations from scratch in Illustrator 8. Again, sorry for the confusion.
8 JSmom // Jan 25, 2005 at 8:15 am
Heehee. Thanks for clearing that up. I thought I had missed some really cool trick! Now I can stop spending all my free time hunting down that feature. (Don’t worry. I have a new baby, so that equals about 1/2 second a day.) Love the site, and the sense of humor.
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