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From: Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Nude images removed from wuarchive
Message-ID: <27818@cup.portal.com>
Date: 12 Mar 90 00:31:23 GMT
References: <1990Mar8.222758.8166@cs.utk.edu> <45530@lanl.gov>
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   Actually, I would consider a store of images of the human figure to be
very important  to many areas of research in computer imaging/graphics.   
Figure studies and sequential movement studies are used by:
   Artists, medical students and practitioners (in a very broad range of  
specialties), animators, athletic instructors, teachers, etc., etc. for
diverse applications.  Some examples:
   Reconstructive surgery.  People generally think of face lifts, but what
about treatment for burns, accident wounds, amputation, congenital defects.
Digital imagery is appropriate for monitoring and planning treatment.
   Congenital defects.  Digital monitoring and examples of patterns of
growth in dwarfism and other conditions relating to proportion and size.
   Athletics.  Digital recording, monitoring and correction of technique,
movements; comparative studies, physiotherapy, kinestheology, etc.
   I could write volumes of applications in almost any field, but there are
are more direct ways in which rendering, projects and other types of imagery
make appropriate use of the figure.  Human beings are genetically programmed
to be aware of extremely subtle nuances in shape, proportion and coloring as
relates to faces and figures (especially faces).  If you were testing
dithering patterns, palette reduction, palette correction, raster to vector
algorithms, curve or size manipulation of images and you wanted data which
would show up immediate problems or anomalies, human figure images are
one of the types of images to include.  The reason is simple.  Subtle dif-
ferences in a rock or a tree or a chipmunk escape us, subtle differences in
people seldom do.
   I would heartily support inclusion of appropriate nude images.  If space
is limited, limit the images, don't E-liminate them.  I do not heartily
support an image bank which is disproportionate in terms of sex or age group.
If the archive is predominantly full-frontal buxom females between 17-28,
then it's rather obvious that it's not there to fulfill valid research goals.
So balance it, but keep the archive.        
                               Julie Petersen (LadyHawke@cup.portal.com)