Have you ever wondered how good you'd be at helping the police construct a composite drawing? You know, the kind police artists base on a victim's memory of individual parts of a criminal's face. Would you have enough visual memory to cry, "Yes, that's the nose. I'm sure of it!"
I wouldn't. Composite-Man has proven that to me many times. But it's fun trying anyway. In fact, Composite-Man might best be described as a game--one that all members of the family, from the littlest tyke to the oldest computerist, will enjoy. It also could be labeled a self-help program, because it certainly will improve your observation skills.
No matter what you call it, the program won't mean a thing until you run it. Run the program and get ready to test your observation powers.
A Nose is a Nose...
The program begins with a slight delay (about 8 seconds) while it converts Data statements into facial features: eyes, noses, ears, and so forth. That done, it displays a face. Look carefully--you have only four seconds to take it in! Then the reconstruction process begins.
First come the eyes--six sets of them. (Hmm, were his eyes narrow and slitty or big and bright?) Next comes the hair... or hat. (Now isn't that strange; I can't even remember if I saw hair or a hat.) And knowing which hat he wore isn't enough; you must also recall its color.
The job gets harder. You must choose a mustache or eyeglasses, nose and ears, and finally the shape of the fellow's face. Eight choices are required to make your C-128 do a composite drawing of the face you saw so briefly.
Once you've finished selecting features, sit back and watch the computer draw the composite and original faces side-by-side. At this point you'll see your mistakes, but the program won't let you off that easy. It will also create a bar graph that charts your success in three categories: accuracy, speed, and a combination of the two.
The accuracy score is based on the number of correct selections you made; get all eight features right and you'll score 100 percent here. The speed score is based on both how long you took to make your selections and how long you viewed the original face. After each round, you can change the view time to anywhere from two to nine seconds. (The default is four.) Your final score is a combination of 70 percent accuracy and 30 percent speed. Not only will the bar graph report the results of your latest round, it will also draw hollow bars representing your best scores since you began play.
I think Composite-Man is fun, and so does my entire family. It has (sadly) revealed that some people are more observant than others. I think little kids have an advantage: Their brains aren't cluttered with a lifetime of faces. But I'm getting better; Composite-Man has improved my ability to observe details. Try it and see what you think.
Of course, I hope you never need to re-create the face of a mugger or worse, but, if you do, you'll be able to shout with conviction, "Yes, that's the ear. I'm sure of it." The policemen will love you for it!
