MLP neural network based face recognition system using constructive training algorithm

Face recognition is one of the most efficient applications of computer authentication and pattern recognition. Therefore it attracts significant attention of researchers. In the past decades, many feature extraction algorithms have been proposed. In this paper Gabor features and Zernike moment were used to extract features from human face images for recognition application. This paper is a study for new constructive training algorithm for Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP) which is applied to face recognition application. An incremental training procedure was employed where the training patterns are learned incrementally. This algorithm started with a single training pattern and a single hidden-layer using one neuron. During neural network training, the hidden neuron is increased when the Mean Square Error (MSE) of the Training Data (TD) is not reduced or the algorithm gets stuck in a local minimum. Input patterns are trained incrementally (one by one) until all patterns of TD are selected and trained. Face recognition system structure based on a MLP neural network was constructed and was tested for face recognition. The proposed approach was tested on the UMIST database. Experimental results indicate that we can obtain an optimal architecture of neural network classifier (with the least possible number of hidden neuron) using our present constructive algorithm, and prove the effectiveness of the proposed method compared to the MLP architecture with back-propagation algorithm.