What a lovely set of pixels!

December 8, 2004 7:08 AM

Phoarr - what a lovely set of pixels! Following in the footsteps of the annual Miss World contest is Miss Digital World, a contest to create the perfect virtual woman.
posted by bap98189 (32 comments total)

Apparently the perfect virtual woman has reflective lips.
posted by fungible at 7:17 AM on December 8, 2004

Oh, this is beyond creepy.
posted by TheGoldenOne at 7:21 AM on December 8, 2004

Kaya's movies are pretty creepy as well, though I'm hoping Half Life 3 will look just as good.
posted by bondcliff at 7:25 AM on December 8, 2004

ha. the (winning 2004) chilean entry is not blonde! that's actually pretty cool, though i guess only one person here will understand and maybe he'll disagree... and we won! (well, ok, i'm the wrong sex and nationality, but hey...)
posted by andrew cooke at 7:28 AM on December 8, 2004

This is undeniably creepy, but it makes sense because it is just a big media hack to demonstrate how creepy the normal beauty pageant industry is.

Right? Jesus.
posted by norm at 7:29 AM on December 8, 2004

Is there some kind of inherent design flaw in real live women that requires us to design the perfect virtual woman? What's the point?
posted by spicynuts at 7:48 AM on December 8, 2004

...a contest to create the perfect virtual woman

so she'll won't be able to talk, right?
posted by zelphi at 7:49 AM on December 8, 2004

The entire website is basically an ADVERTISMENT for software that lets you create pictures of women....
posted by jaded at 7:55 AM on December 8, 2004

Talk about the objectification of women.
I want to see men, too! At least one nerdy graphic designer has to be gay, or a woman, right?
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 8:10 AM on December 8, 2004

How long before the virtual and real women go head to head? I give it 5 years. And it will be on FOX.
posted by pepcorn at 8:11 AM on December 8, 2004

The winning "Miss Digital World" doesn't look much better (technically) than a Bryce Poser model. At least five of the other models were far superior (in looks and design) in my opinion.
posted by grimcity at 8:13 AM on December 8, 2004

katty ko looks like she could suck the chrome off a virtual trailer hitch.
posted by quonsar at 8:14 AM on December 8, 2004

Mademoiselles, madames et monsieurs ...

Ceci n'est pas une pipe

(Seriously)
posted by magullo at 8:19 AM on December 8, 2004

OMG!!!!! MY CYBERBONER IS HUGE.COM!!!!!

(Also: Why is Tasha cross-eyed? "Ah! Perfection! A woman who can't quite swat at a bee!")
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:24 AM on December 8, 2004

Surely I'm not the only one to notice that the "contest" is actually a big advertisement for their $100 rendering software pack.

If this was a real contest, it wouldn't be limited to one renderer - and certainly not one that produces work that looks several years old.

(and FWIW, I still think Aki from the Final Fantasy movie still is the best "v-girl" to be invented)
posted by InnocentBystander at 8:31 AM on December 8, 2004

so she'll won't be able to talk, right?

wonder what your gf would think about that one, zelphi?
posted by Lisa S at 8:54 AM on December 8, 2004

I think the contest was rigged. nearly every other "model" is much more realistic.
posted by crunchland at 9:01 AM on December 8, 2004

katty ko looks like she could suck the chrome off a virtual trailer hitch.
Yeah, girls who get attached like this are great as long as the relationship is going forward, but just try backing out...
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:09 AM on December 8, 2004

her lips are too thin and it looks like she's been sucking on a grape crayola marker.
posted by Lisa S at 9:14 AM on December 8, 2004

What the hell is up with the pointy ears?
posted by DrJohnEvans at 9:20 AM on December 8, 2004

Katty Ko just looks wrong.
posted by Foosnark at 9:31 AM on December 8, 2004

The dead, hopeless eyes of an office worker who knows they've made the wrong choices, but are convinced that it's too late to change...

Not very attractive, oh no.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:41 AM on December 8, 2004

IMO, Kaya is out of the uncanny valley. I didn't find her eerie at all.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:21 AM on December 8, 2004

What's "Phoarr?"
posted by majick at 11:10 AM on December 8, 2004

It's like "Cor!", but more emphatic.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 11:15 AM on December 8, 2004

Kaya is much more impressive, in my opinion. The beret may simply be a solution to the problem of rending realistic hair, but her face looks more natural to me.
posted by Songdog at 11:29 AM on December 8, 2004

How long before the virtual and real women go head to head? I give it 5 years.

Not so fast. These virtual ladies need to climb out of the uncanny valley first, which is not as simple as it seems. Some of them have quite a steep wall to scale. Step one: for the love of God, don't give the contestants pointy ears.
posted by mowglisambo at 1:09 PM on December 8, 2004

From Kaya's page, it looks like she was made in 2001, the same year as final fantasy.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0173840/
and they ALL looked better IMHO.

as for the Katty Ko thing -
check this out:
http://cgchannel.com/forum/viewthread?thread=12889
Its the creator of Dalila (Alessandro Valori) asking for help b/c it looked like Katty was getting FAR more votes then everyone else - even the first day she got a lot.

I think Dalila is the best - but the best virtual girl I've ever seen was on the cover of a magazine a few years ago.
posted by slactoid at 2:56 PM on December 8, 2004

When I wrote this I hadn't followed bondcliff's link. Sorry if I sounded a bit slow.
posted by Songdog at 6:57 PM on December 8, 2004

Also for some reason the headshots aren't links for me in Firefox 1.0, but they do work in IE 6.0.
posted by Songdog at 6:59 PM on December 8, 2004

Whoops! Only the first one is a link, and it's a link in both browsers. That's it, I'm going to bed.
posted by Songdog at 7:01 PM on December 8, 2004

I'd take Helen Parr over any of these girls.
posted by straight at 7:55 PM on December 9, 2004