Summary
- Filters in augmented reality: disorders in the relationship to the body
- Beauty filters: an unobtainable appearance
Many people have become addicted to social networks and very regularly post selfies of themselves, or even several times a day. The arrival of augmented reality filters and applications making it possible to beautify one's face in a few clicks on social networks such as Snapchat, Instagram or more recently Facebook has multiplied the number of self-portraits. These filters have, in recent months, been the source of a worrying explosion in the number of consultations with cosmetic surgeons of people wanting to look like… their filtered selfies.
Filters in augmented reality: disorders in the relationship to the body
US cosmetic surgeons have featured in the plastic surgery journal JAMA, drawing attention to a disturbing new fad. According to them, the number of views to look like filtered photos on social media has exploded. Previously, surgeons would see people who came with a celebrity photo. From now on, they come with an augmented reality filtered photo asking to look like this image.
Flawless skin tone and texture, redesigned nose and eyebrows, symmetrical face, enlarged eyes, white teeth, etc. these are the modifications brought by these filters in augmented reality. The image of these people conveyed on social networks through these retouched selfies is therefore totally false.. The reality of their face is obviously much less perfect and generates frustration and an erroneous image of their person and especially disturbances in their relationship to the body.
Beauty filters: an unobtainable appearance
Except, according to cosmetic surgeons, the appearance obtained by these filters is impossible to achieve with cosmetic surgery. A message however difficult to convey to people who come for consultation with their filtered photo. According to professionals, a symmetrical face is impossible to achieve as are the effects of smooth skin. However, many people who come for a consultation with a cosmetic surgeon refuse to accept this fact and some do not hesitate to turn to less ethical practitioners to hope to look like their filtered photo.
Cosmetic surgeons faced with these requests often have to change into psychologists to explain first that what the person is asking is unobtainable and then make her accept her body and value her so that she feels beautiful. An exercise that is not always easy, especially since today's adolescents spend a lot of time on social networks and normative pressure is often very strong on these adolescents. A particularly disturbing new fashion because these filters can really generate disorders in the relationship with the body which, if they become too important, can only be resolved with psychology or psychiatry.
