Compare-a-Face FamilySearch
 

A distant contact of mine is currently trying to use the compare-a-face facility on FamilySearch to try and work out if a mystery photo is our mutual ancestor.

It is a fascinating tool. You can upload two photos, and it tells you how similar their facial features are. I am not quite sure of the science, or how the science works, but it is fascinating.

I uploaded photos of my Grandma when she was about 7, 30 and 80 and the percent match between each of the three was 99% or 100%.


Wondered if anyone else had used it or had any thoughts on it?

Ooh! I like the sound of this!

I have two sets of photos which niggle me.

A random photo of a businessman called John James Holden. He and my late father (also a Holden) look like identical twins. I can make no paper connection between them and the dates just don't work for any hanky panky.

The other is my 2x ggm, holding a chubby baby on her lap. She had either two, or three, children and I would like an independent opinion on which one this is. If it's the one I think it is, that would solve a small mystery but leave me with a larger one.

OC

It's definitely worth looking into, and was really easy to use.

Just remember that the original photo you upload will be compared to the next ones you upload (you can always choose to "start over" though). It will also label the original photo as being you, not that that matters though!


Let us know if it gives you any answers, or just more questions.


Contact is now sure that mystery photos are of our mutual relative, but I am still not convinced. There is a similarity to my side of the family in particular. 59% match to what would be her daughter and an 81% and 68% match to what would be one of her granddaughters. I am just not sure whether I can make the photo fit the correct time period.

I may be asking for advice on it tomorrow on Sensitive Research.

Yes, the time period is the stumbling block for me, too.

OC

There's one on Ancestry of a woman with the same surname as mine who is the

spittting image of me at her age,but I've never been able to make the connection

between the two families. Others much more experienced than me have tried & failed

too but I'm sure there must be a link somewhere.

Vita

So aggravating isn't it.

I have a useful contact in a third cousin. We share one set of great great grandparents of course. I was truly amazed to see a photo of his daughter on fb, she is very like my eldest daughter.

OC

Tom, this is really interesting. Thank you!

For anyone going looking for it, the feature can be found under Activities at the right hand side of the menu across the top of the home page.

This sounds really interesting. I might try it with photos where I know who the people are first!

I tried this with a photo of my grandmother and a photo of of the man I now believe to be her father, thanks to DNA testing. That match comes up at 30%, I then compared Nan with a photo said to be of his mother and that came out at 96%! I wonder if his moustache skewed the results at all:d

I'll have to do as Merry suggests and compare two photos where I know the relationship to see how the results pan out.

Great fun, though thanks Tom highlighting it!

edit: Just compared my aunt to the same photo of her mother, my grandmother and that came up at 88%. Very interesting!

I have spent far too long comparing all sorts of photos over the last couple of days.

It has helped me identify a couple of photos that I was unsure about. I had a feeling they were a certain person, but couldn't make my mind up for definite. However, the site came back with a 99% match, and now I am pretty sure that it is him.

I am still confused about the original photos that lead me to the site though. I will try and post on sensitive research later on.

I do think facial hair can skew the results though, but it is amazing how well it works even with photos that are not the best quality.

I've uploaded a couple of individual photos and then uploaded a wedding photo with lots of people in it. The software can correctly identify the same person (100% match) and then the people with the highest % matches are all close relatives.