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Lenna (aka Lena Söderberg)
Test Image/Muse
Room 01.001
Phone: +41 61 267 05 38
Lenna first appeared as centerfold image in the November 1972 edition of Playboy magazine. She was subsequently scanned as a 512 line image by engineers at the USC Signal and Image Processing Institute (SIPI). From that moment, her image multiplied and spread to a great many journals, books and conference papers. Lenna became the standard test image in the world of image processing.
 
It was only in 1991 that Playboy magazine was alerted to the fact that the Lenna image had been used thousands of times without permission. Playboy magazine then authorized the use of the image for education and research, and Lenna’s career as a test image continued on a legal basis. However, critics maintain that the image is sexist and unsuitable for use in scientific publications, and it has been banned from use by certain publishers.
 
The real woman behind Lenna is Lena Söderberg, who was working as a model in Chicago in the early 1970s (then under the name of Lena Sjööblom). She returned to her Swedish homeland, married, had children and was invited to the 50th Anniversary IS&T conference in Boston held in May 1997.
 
Lenna’s latest incarnation is as a painting painted by a member of the gravis group. As such, she graces the wall of our office and looks on at our continuing efforts in the field of computer graphics.
 
Source: PCS Newsletter 2001