New Delhi, May 13 -- Manav Jain can no longer ignore how screens are rewriting his sense of faces. The 25-year-old product manager from Bengaluru recently returned to his hometown, Mumbai, after staying in touch with family through video calls that convinced him he had kept up with what's going on. That illusion shattered the moment he saw his mother in person. "She had a few wrinkles. My mother was ageing," he says, typing AGEING in all caps on text to underline his shock.

He hadn't considered the way many video-calling apps apply face-smoothening filters by default. What unsettles him more is that this distortion turns inward, too. "There have been times looking at the mirror where I felt I am not looking good," he says. "I am so used ...