Face detection method based on photoplethysmography

Face detection methods are in general applied frame by frame based on face characteristics. Human faces are part of a living body in which there is a constant blood flow. It has been recently demonstrated that heart rate could be estimated with simple consumer level digital cameras. In this paper, we propose a new method to detect faces in a video stream based on the detection of heart rate. Images are sliced into small regions of interest. For each region, heart rate is estimated and an index of presence is computed. A face detection map can be created by using the index of presence and the heart rate information. This system could be used to increase the robustness of face detection systems based on face characteristics only, emotion recognition or biometric systems.