A novel approach for multimodal face recognition system based on modular PCA

An efficient face recognition system should recognize faces in different views and poses. The efficiency of a human face recognition system depends on the capability of face recognition in presence of changes in the appearance of face due to expression, pose and illumination. A novel algorithm which utilizes the combination of texture and depth information based on Modular PCA to overcome the problem of pose variation and illumination change for face recognition is proposed. The system has combined 2D and 3D systems in the feature level which presents higher performance in contrast with methods which utilizes either 2D or 3D system separately. A multimodal face recognition based on Modular PCA when compared with conventional PCA algorithm has an improved recognition rate for face images with large variations in illumination and facial expression. The proposed algorithm is tested with FRAV3D database that has faces with pose variation and illumination changes. Recognition rates from experimental results show the superiority of Modular PCA over conventional PCA methods in tackling face images with different pose variations and changes in illuminations. The proposed algorithm shows a recognition rate of 86% that is achieved in fusion experiment.