What is fwhr?

A single ratio: bizygomatic width, the widest horizontal span across the cheekbones, divided by upper face height, the vertical distance from the upper eyelid line to the top of the upper lip.

How Facemap measures fwhr

Facemap identifies the outer edge of each cheekbone and the brow and upper lip reference points from the 478-point mesh, then divides the width by the height to produce a single number, unaffected by camera distance.

What the typical range looks like

Reported averages across studies typically sit between 1.6 and 2.1, with meaningful overlap between individuals. A higher fWHR is not inherently more or less typical, it simply describes a wider face relative to its upper height.

How to read your result

Read your fWHR alongside gonial angle and face shape, since a wide bizygomatic measurement without a corresponding jaw width will read differently structurally than one that carries through the lower face.

The fwhr formula: how we calculate it

Facial width-to-height ratio. Landmark numbers are MediaPipe Face Landmarker indices, and every distance is normalised to your own face so camera distance and image size cancel out.

dist(234, 454) / |y(13) - y(9)|

Landmarks used

234, 454, 9, 13

Reference target

1.90

Tolerance band

0.42

Your reading is compared with that published reference on a Gaussian match curve: score = round( 100 x exp( -0.5 x ( (reading - target) / tolerance )^2 ) ), clamped to 1 to 99. Basis for the reference value: fwhr as defined in the behavioural science literature, bizygomatic width over upper-face height. The headline Attractiveness Score works differently: all readings are corrected for head angle and expression, weighted by confidence and mapped onto a 1 to 100 scale by a model calibrated against a published research set of more than Facemap scans.

Read the full Facemap methodology, including how the 22 measurement categories combine into your Attractiveness Score.

fWHR reference table

fWHR value bands and how each reads.

• Below 1.6Lower fWHR

  Taller upper face relative to cheekbone width

• 1.6 to 1.8Typical

  The range most commonly measured

• 1.8 to 2.0Higher fWHR

  Wider face relative to upper face height

• Above 2.0High

  Pronounced cheekbone width to height ratio

How fWHR is calculated, step by step

The measurement uses two straight-line distances taken from the same frontal scan.

• /Bizygomatic width: outer left cheekbone point to outer right cheekbone point
• /Upper face height: brow line to the top of the upper lip
• /fWHR equals bizygomatic width divided by upper face height

What the research on fWHR actually shows

fWHR has been studied for correlations with traits such as dominance perception and competitiveness, but findings are inconsistent across replications and sample sizes are often small. Facemap reports the ratio as a structural measurement, not a behavioural or personality indicator.

Does fWHR change with weight or expression?

Soft tissue over the cheekbones can shift slightly with weight change, which moves bizygomatic width more than upper face height. Keeping a neutral, relaxed expression during the scan keeps the height measurement consistent across sessions.

The fWHR formula, step by step

The fWHR formula is a single division, and every input comes from the same frontal scan so the result is not affected by how far you sit from the camera.

• /Measure bizygomatic width: outer left cheekbone point to outer right cheekbone point
• /Measure upper face height: brow line to the top of the upper lip
• /Divide bizygomatic width by upper face height
• /The result is your fWHR, typically between 1.6 and 2.1