chernoff faces

Via the New Shelton wet/dry, we are introduced to the ideograms invented in 1973 by statistician and applied mathematician Herman Chernoff to express multivariate data as the human visage, recognising that the mind could be easily overwhelmed or misled by numbers and odds but are generally good at reading faces and detecting even subtle change. Data is carefully mapped and projected on the facial features, eyebrow weight and slant, mouth, and can be used to convey complex outcomes, like understanding one’s investment strategies or the consequences of opting in or out of programmes for stakeholders at all levels. The style reminds us of the Squigglevision technique used on Dr Katz and we wonder if the earlier encoding work of Carl-Herman Hjortsjö might have fed into Chernoff’s reseach.