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Frontal-view Face Detection in The Presence of Skin-Tone Regions Using a New Symmetry Approach
Keywords:
face detection, image segmentation, clustering, cost functions, symmetry approachAbstract
In this paper, an efficient algorithm for detecting frontalview faces in color images is proposed. The proposed algorithm has a special task; it detects faces in the presence of skin-tone regions such as human body, clothes, and background. Firstly, a pixel based color classifier is applied to segment the skin pixels from background. Next, a hybrid cluster algorithm is applied to partition the skin region. It is well known that the frontal face is symmetrical; therefore we introduce a new symmetry approach, which is the main distinguishing feature of the proposed algorithm. It measures a symmetrical value, searches for the real center of the region, and then removes the extra unsymmetrical skin pixels. The cost functions are adopted to locate the real two eyes of the candidate face region. Finally, a template matching process is preformed between an aligning frontal face model and the candidate face region as a verification step. We have tested our algorithm on 200 images from different sets. Experimental results reveal that our algorithm can perform the detection of faces successfully under wide variations of captured images.
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References
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[15] Chiunhsiun Lin, Kuo-Chin Fan, “Triangle-based approach to the detection of human face”, Pattern Recognition 34 (2001) 1271-1284.
[16] Jainxin Wu, Zhi-Hua Zhou, “Efficient face candidates selector for face detection”, Pattern Recognition 36 (2003) 1175-1186.
[17] Frank Y. Shih , Chao-Fa Chuang, ”Automatic extraction of head and face boundaries and facial features”, Information Sciences 158 (2004) 117-130.
[18] Eli Saber, A. Murat Tekalp, “ Frontal-view face detection and facial feature extraction using color, shape and symmetry cost functions”, Pattern Recognition Lett. 19 (1998) 669-680.
[19] J. Cai, A. Goshtasby, “Detecting human faces in color images”, Image and Vision Comp.18 (1999) 63-75.
[20] Gang Wei, Ishwar K. Sethi, “Face detection for image annotation”, Pattern Recognition lett. 20 (1999) 1313-1321.
[21] Ing-Sheen Hsieh, Kuo-Chin Fan, Chiunhsiun Lin, ”A statistic approach to the detection of human faces in color nature scene”, Pattern Recognition 35 (2002) 1583-1596.
[22] Kwok-Wai Wong, Kin-Man Lam, Wan-Chi Siu, “ A robust scheme for live detection of human faces in color images”, Signal Processing: Image Communication 18 (2003) 103-114.
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[25] Menahem Friedman, Abraham Kandel, Introduction to Pattern Recognition, Imperial Cellege Press 1999.
[26] Mu-Chun Su, Chien-Hsing Chou, “A Modified Version of K-Means Algorithm with a Distance Based on Cluster Symmetry”, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol. 23, No. 6, June 2001.
[27] Kyug-Min Cho, Jeong-Hun Jang, Ki-Sang Hong,”Adaptive Skin-color Filter”, Pattern Recognition 34 (2001)1067-1073.
[2] K.-K. Sung, T. Poggio, “Example-based learning for view-based human face detection”, IEEE Transactions, Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 20 (1)(1998) 39-51.
[3] I. Craw, H, Ellis, J.R, Lishman, “Automatic extraction of face-features’’, Pattern Recognition Letter 5 (1987) 18-187.
[4] D.W. Purnell, C. Nieuwoudt, E.C. Botha, “Automatic face recognition in a heterogeneous population’’, Pattern Recognition Letter (1998) ()1067-1075.
[5] C.L. Huang, C.W, Vhen, “Human facial feature extraction for face interpretation and recognition’’, Pattern Recognition 25 (12) (1992) 1435-1444.
[6] C.H. Lee, J.S. Kim, K.H Park, “Automatic human face location in a complex background using motion and color information”, Pattern Recognition 29 (11) (1996) 1877-1889.
[7] G. Craw, X, Li, “Toward a system for automatic facial feature detection”, Pattern Recognition .26 (12) (1993) 1739-1755.
[8] K.C. Yow, R. Cipolla,” Feature-based human face detection,” Image Vision Computer 15 (19997) 713-735.
[9] G. Yang, T.S. Huang, “Human face detection in a complex background”, Pattern Recognition 27 (1) (1994) 53-63.
[10] L. Xu, M. Jackowski, A. Goshtasby, D. Roseman, S. Bines, C. Yu, A. Dhawan, A. Huntly, “Segmentation of Skin Cancer Images”, Image and Vision Computing 17 (1) (1999).
[11] Q. Chen, H. Wu, M. Yachida, “Face detection by fuzzy pattern matching”, proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Computer Vision, 1995, pp. 591-596.
[12] Y.Miyake, H. Saitoh, H. Yaguchi, N. Tsukada, “ Facial pattern detection and color correction from television picture and newspaper printing”, Journal of Image Technology 16 (5) (1990) 165-169.
[13] K. Sobottka, I. Pitas, “Segmentation and tracking of faces in color images”, Proceeding of the second International Conference on Automatic Faces and Gesture Recognition 1996, pp. 236-241.
[14] Shi-Hong Jeng, Hong Yaen Mark Liao, Chin Chuan han, Ming Yang Chern, and Yao Tsorng Liu, “ Facial feature detection using geometrical face model: an efficient approach”, Pattern recognition, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 273-282, 1998.
[15] Chiunhsiun Lin, Kuo-Chin Fan, “Triangle-based approach to the detection of human face”, Pattern Recognition 34 (2001) 1271-1284.
[16] Jainxin Wu, Zhi-Hua Zhou, “Efficient face candidates selector for face detection”, Pattern Recognition 36 (2003) 1175-1186.
[17] Frank Y. Shih , Chao-Fa Chuang, ”Automatic extraction of head and face boundaries and facial features”, Information Sciences 158 (2004) 117-130.
[18] Eli Saber, A. Murat Tekalp, “ Frontal-view face detection and facial feature extraction using color, shape and symmetry cost functions”, Pattern Recognition Lett. 19 (1998) 669-680.
[19] J. Cai, A. Goshtasby, “Detecting human faces in color images”, Image and Vision Comp.18 (1999) 63-75.
[20] Gang Wei, Ishwar K. Sethi, “Face detection for image annotation”, Pattern Recognition lett. 20 (1999) 1313-1321.
[21] Ing-Sheen Hsieh, Kuo-Chin Fan, Chiunhsiun Lin, ”A statistic approach to the detection of human faces in color nature scene”, Pattern Recognition 35 (2002) 1583-1596.
[22] Kwok-Wai Wong, Kin-Man Lam, Wan-Chi Siu, “ A robust scheme for live detection of human faces in color images”, Signal Processing: Image Communication 18 (2003) 103-114.
[23] William K. Pratt, ”Digital Image Processing”, A wiley-interrscience publication, 1991,Second edition.
[24] J.T. Tou, R.C. Gonzalez, Pattern Recognition Principles, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1974.
[25] Menahem Friedman, Abraham Kandel, Introduction to Pattern Recognition, Imperial Cellege Press 1999.
[26] Mu-Chun Su, Chien-Hsing Chou, “A Modified Version of K-Means Algorithm with a Distance Based on Cluster Symmetry”, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol. 23, No. 6, June 2001.
[27] Kyug-Min Cho, Jeong-Hun Jang, Ki-Sang Hong,”Adaptive Skin-color Filter”, Pattern Recognition 34 (2001)1067-1073.
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Published
2006-10-02
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[1]
“Frontal-view Face Detection in The Presence of Skin-Tone Regions Using a New Symmetry Approach”, JCS&T, vol. 6, no. 02, pp. p. 85–91, Oct. 2006, Accessed: Jan. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://journal.info.unlp.edu.ar/JCST/article/view/819
