Automatic creation of face composite images for consumer applications

This paper presents a method to perform automatic extraction, manipulation and blending of human face and hair images into other media such as licensed commercial content. We describe automatic image processing algorithms to perform such tasks, and discuss applications in personalized publishing and merchandising. We demonstrate our work through automatically segmenting out the face and hair image in a consumer photo and embedding it in another photo or document. The goal is to perform these steps seamlessly with natural look and minimal manual intervention. The primary application of this technology is the personalization of various documents and products such as licensed merchandise, children´s storybook, puzzles and marketing collaterals.