Dr Shu Jin Lee, and colleagues at the Department of Surgery, at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, have been examining the pages of Playboy Magazine – they are in search of “beauty”. Specifically, beautiful navels. With the aid of computer software which they have developed (called the Aesthetic Analyzer*) they are working towards a definition of the “Beautiful” Umbilicus.
Methods: Previously, the authors developed software (the Aesthetic Analyzer) for marking and analyzing parameters from images of the nose, breast, and umbilicus. In the present study, the Aesthetic Analyzer was utilized to determine parameters of the beautiful umbilicus from images of 37 Playboy playmates. The vertical position, horizontal position, length, and shape of the umbilicus were assessed.
Results: Based on these images, the beautiful umbilicus possesses the following properties: a vertical ratio of 46:54 (with respect to the xiphoid process and lower limit of the vulvar cleft), a midline horizontal position, a length that is 5% of the length from the xiphoid process to the lower limit of the vulvar cleft, and an oval shape with no hooding (29.8%) or superior hooding (21.6%).
See: ‘Computer-Aided Analysis of the “Beautiful” Umbilicus‘ in the latest edition of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal.
Also see: The umbilical signalling hypothesis and, The quest for an ideal nose
* Note: Improbable has not been able to determine if the team’s Aesthetic Analyzer is the same as this Aesthetic Analyzer, or this one.