Oswald’s Face Reconstructed in 3D

Hany Farid, researcher at Dartmouth College, has just completed a virtual 3D reconstruction of Lee Harvey Oswald’s face from the famous photograph of him and his rifle.  The goal was to prove or disprove the shadows and reflections on his face, pointed out by conspiracy theorists as evidence that the photo is doctored.

He used a computer program Facegen, to build a virtual 3D model of Oswald’s head. Once that was completed, he added in the background features of the photo. Through a series of computations, he figured out where the camera had to be, the trajectory of the sun and where Oswald was in relation to the camera.

The result is that it’s definitely possible.  That alone isn’t proof that the photo is real, but does eliminate one common point of argument.

via UnionLeader.com – New Hampshire news, business and sports – Dartmouth expert: Oswald photo appears real – Friday, Nov. 6, 2009.

This story written by Randall Hand

Randall Hand is a visualization scientist working for a federal research lab, aiding researchers to discover the insights buried within their terabyte datasets generated on some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. He also runs VizWorld.com .

Science facegen, history, research