Facial features localization in front view head and shoulders images

The computerized process of locating human facial features such as the eyes, nose and mouth in a head and shoulders image is crucial to such applications as automatic face identification and model-based video coding. In this paper, a new model-based algorithm for locating these major features is developed. The algorithm estimates the parameters of the ellipse which best fits the head view in the image and uses these parameters to calculate the estimated locations of the facial features. It then refines the estimated coordinates of the eyes, mouth, and nose by exploiting the vertical and horizontal projections of the pixels in windows around the estimated locations of the features. The algorithm has been implemented and tested with over twelve hundred images, and simulation results indicate that the algorithm is robust to variations in subject head shape, eye shape, age, and motion such as tilting and nodding of the head.