Facial feature extraction in frontal views using biometric analogies

Face detection and facial feature extraction are considered to be key requirements in many applications, such as access control systems, model-based video coding, content-based video browsing and retrieval. Thus, accurate face localization and facial feature extraction are most desirable. A face detection and facial feature extraction in frontal views algorithm is described in this paper. The algorithm is based on principles described in [1] but extends the work by considering: (a) the mirror-symmetry of the face in the vertical direction and (b) facial biometric analogies depending on the size of the face estimated by the face localization method. Further improvements have been added to the face localization method to enhance its performance. The proposed algorithm has been applied to frontal views extracted from the European ACTS M2VTS database with very good results.