What Are Your Museum Doppelgangers?

Have you used the Google Arts & Culture app to find your museum doppelganger yet?

I meant to write about this in January, but there wasn’t time before we left on our Southeast Asia trip.

Whoever came up with this is brilliant.

It’s a neat –and fun!– way to learn about famous –and not-so-famous– works of arts and which museums now house them.

How It Works

The app essentially uses facial recognition technology to match characteristics from your face to those in the app’s collection of over 70,000 paintings and other pieces of art.

It’s really easy to find out if you have any matches. All you have to do is take a selfie!

To find your matches:

1. Open the app and scroll down until you find the “Is your portrait in a museum?” section.

1. Allow access to your camera.

1. Strike a pose.

2. Take a photo.

3. Wait for the results.

4. Swipe to see which portraits you share similar facial features with.

So easy right?

Are the Results the Same Every Time?

I was curious just how accurate this thing is. Does it really recognize my face? Will it give me the same results every time?

You’d think it would. But I had my doubts. What if it was just pulling random works from its database and calling it a match?

1st Selfies: January 16, 2018

Here are the very first selfies I took. First with my hair up…

 

…then again with my hair down. Because I was bummed I only had a 40 something percent match with anything. Would a different hairstyle result in different results?

Sort of. And a couple of 50% matches:

 

Better.

But what about another day? With glasses. Different room.

Would I get the same results?

2nd Selfies: January 17, 2018

Not exactly. And I matched a man. Great.

However, my percentage rose a point too.

Okay, let’s try same day, same room, no glasses…

 

Now we’re talking! High 50s, mid-to-low 60s.

Also, I’m seeing some repeats, like the portrait of Lysbeth van Duvenvoorde and the Marquise de Pezay. Cool.

Other Repeaters

On April 2, 2018 I tried again. I had a couple of new matches:

 

But also curiously enough some repeaters:

My faves are the Marquise de Pezay and the Study of a Hat.

The Frances Leyland one sort of creeps me out. (Also creepy is the percentage on the April photo is an even higher match than on the photo I took back in January! Eeek!)

Does Everyone Have a Doppleganger?

Skellie didn’t.

(You knew I had to try, right?)

Funniest

I can’t believe I’m even posting this publicly, but…I love a good laugh. This made me chuckle, so why not share it?

It made me think of Dick Cheney in drag. Like some kind of SNL spoof gone wrong.

If it makes you chuckle too, you’re welcome.

 

 

Explore More with the Arts & Culture App

Finding your museum doppelganger isn’t the only thing the app is good for.

Here’s what else you can do according to their Google Play App Store description:

Are you curious about what Van Gogh’s Starry Night looks like up close? Or the difference between modern and contemporary art? Would you like to wander round a museum halfway across the world?

With Google Arts & Culture you can visit top exhibits, zoom in on artworks in mind-blowing detail and browse thousands of stories, photos, videos, and manuscripts. Be your own curator by finding your favorites, creating your own collections and sharing them with friends. Travel anywhere with tours of iconic sites, famous buildings and natural wonders, on your screen or in VR. Learn something new everyday.

Google Arts & Culture has collaborated with over 1,200 museums, galleries and institutions in 70 countries to make their exhibits available for everyone online. Start exploring, now.

Who Do You Look Like?

I showed you mine. Your turn!

Although showing me might be hard.

But you can at least tell me if you tried, which results you got and what kind of percentages.

Also, did you have any favorites? Any groaners? (Meaning ones that made you cringe or shake your head.)

What about ones that made you laugh or creeped you out?