By Graham K. Rogers

I am in two minds about plastic surgery. Some see it as a way to enhance and beautify: vanity in action. For others, like burns victims, it is a way to reintegrate. While a surgeon may be able to give the patient an idea of an end result, it may be helpful for a user to have an idea of the potential effects before considering this expensive form of surgery. Of course, there is an app for it.

Plastic Surgery Simulator

Many apps are based on using filters or making adjustments to the image. An app I found this week has a dual function in that it can allow a user to redesign a part of the body; or it may be used to stretch and distort so that there is a comic output. Plastic Surgery Simulator is a free app (at least for now) that is relatively easy to use although needs patience.

The developer website has information on how to use the app, but the first image (using an iPad) does make a rather prominent display of one of the possibilities. I am not happy that the app, which has some real usefulness, is being promoted with what appears to be a sexist theme although the video used -- not of the lady in the red swimsuit -- does show a good demo of the app.

Image Use

Having selected an image from a source, the user is offered a screen for cropping: bringing a section of a photograph down to a suitable working size. A slider at the bottom determines the working area and thus the amount of the photograph that is moved during adjustment.

I usually prefer the iPhone when using apps for photography, but the iPad made this far easier to work with, for the same reason that other editing apps (for example iPhoto) work better with the larger screen area.

To the left of the sliders are three controls plus a zoom button. The controls determine how effects are applied, for example stretching or smoothing. Despite the larger screen of the iPad it was not easy to make the changes that I might like to see.

For instance I have some scarring above my left eye: the result of a motorcycle accident. Not that I am going to waste my money by having this fixed, but I would be interested to see what it might look like. I was not able to produce anything like a satisfactory result with this: stretching and dragging, Yes; but a demonstration of effective repairs to damage (motorcycle or burns) does not seem to be possible with my limited skills. It may require a gentler and more patient approach as can be seen by viewing the video on the developer website.

Image Export

There are controls to the top right for displaying before and after images together (a signpost); for toggling between Before and After (a label) and a double arrow for full screen work. An animation button left me a little confused as when it was on, I expected it to record the process, but every time I was warned that I could not work on the image with the animation On.

What the Animation feature does is to allow the viewing of changes to a face from full effect to original and back, looping over and over. This is a handy way to make comparisons.

Comment

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.