One of the challenges facing image processors has been the reconstruction of a three dimensional (3-D) image of human face from photographs. Recent work by J J Atick and others at Rockfeller University (USA) may lead to an accurate algorithm for the purpose. They started with the idea that all human faces are combinations of a few primary shapes. Using 3-D scans of heads from the database of the Computerized Anthropometric Research and Design laboratory, they derived an average adult (white) male head shape. They also derived about 200 variations from that shape which vastly simplified the reconstruction of a 3-D head from a photograph (Scientific American, December 1995).