In 2016 Google launched an online game called Quick, Draw! where players had to draw a picture of an object while the program’s neural network attempted to determine what the drawing represents.
LA-based artist Kyle McDonald sifted through millions of images accumulated by the program and discovered that people from different countries tend to draw certain things differently.
For example, it turns out that people in some countries in East and Southeast Asia tend to draw chairs in perspective, while the rest of the world tends to draw this piece of furniture from the side.
while most of the world draws chairs from the side, some countries in east & southeast asia draw them in perspective! pic.twitter.com/OzcZ4E6mhx
— Kyle McDonald (@kcimc) 28 августа 2017 г.
Smiley faces drawn by people from some Asian countries tend to smile with their eyes as well.
we decided to check more categories for patterns, starting with smiley faces: south korea, japan, and taiwan have smiling eyes ^_^ pic.twitter.com/Q19dSAPntZ
— Kyle McDonald (@kcimc) 28 августа 2017 г.
A French 'candelabra' sits on the table while an English 'chandelier' hangs from the ceiling.
the english "chandelier" hangs from the ceiling, but in french it sits on a table (candelabra). the effect decreases w distance from france pic.twitter.com/l1uXuPNCyd
— Kyle McDonald (@kcimc) 28 августа 2017 г.
Images of a house drawn by Russians usually feature windows instead of doors.
even architecture comes through, with roofs varying in their amount of overhang. (and apparently russian houses have no doors?) pic.twitter.com/zEiXspIdRU
— Kyle McDonald (@kcimc) 28 августа 2017 г.
Snowmen drawn in Asia usually consist of two parts instead of three like in other countries.
for most of these patterns, like the chairs, we have no explanation. maybe you know: why are some snowmen three circles, and some are two? pic.twitter.com/oF9LetQAej
— Kyle McDonald (@kcimc) 28 августа 2017 г.
Which way fish and ducks face also often depends on where the drawing was made.
many countries can't decide which direction things face, but in east & southeast asia fish & ducks face left. btw: turkish fish face right? pic.twitter.com/RkX8k57nrN
— Kyle McDonald (@kcimc) 28 августа 2017 г.
And it appears that the best indicator of where you live is the way you draw a power outlet.
a few more because this has gotten popular: the way you draw power outlets is probably the clearest indicator of where you live. pic.twitter.com/5tCrI1xftI
— Kyle McDonald (@kcimc) 29 августа 2017 г.
