For some of us, the mere thought of venturing into the world of online dating can be nerve-wrecking. Not only do you have to filter through weirdos sending you updates about their "horniness levels", you have to make sure that the photos you post are attractive enough to catch someone's attention without looking like you're trying too hard. 



To cut you some slack, a team of computer scientists at the University of Iowa in Iowa City are coming up with a new kind of dating engine to help you find that perfect match.

Current compatibility engines only take into account shared interests and personality traits, stated physical preferences and what type of people you reach out to. This new research seeks to quantify that unquantifiable spark which makes people actually attracted to one another. The method is actually fairly straightforward:
 The problem with this approach is that it takes no account of your attractiveness. If the people you contact never reply, then these recommendations are of little use.

So Zhao and co add another dimension to their recommendation engine. They also analyse the replies you receive and uses this to evaluate your attractiveness (or unattractiveness).

Obviously boys and girls who receive more replies are more attractive. When it takes this into account, it can recommend potential dates who not only match your taste but ones who are more likely to think you attractive and therefore to reply. "The model considers a user's "taste" in picking others and "attractiveness" in being picked by others," they say.
At least, that's the theory. Of course, this doesn't take into account users who desperately spam everyone on every site and receive tons of replies.  So until those scientists find a way to execute this perfectly, online dating is always going to be a bit of a crapshoot. Check out the Hily.com review for some tips.