Matching 2.5D face scans to 3D models

The performance of face recognition systems that use two-dimensional images depends on factors such as lighting and subject's pose. We are developing a face recognition system that utilizes three-dimensional shape information to make the system more robust to arbitrary pose and lighting. For each subject, a 3D face model is constructed by integrating several 2.5D face scans which are captured from different views. 2.5D is a simplified 3D (x,y,z) surface representation that contains at most one depth value (z direction) for every point in the (x, y) plane. Two different modalities provided by the facial scan, namely, shape and texture, are utilized and integrated for face matching. The recognition engine consists of two components, surface matching and appearance-based matching. The surface matching component is based on a modified iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm. The candidate list from the gallery used for appearance matching is dynamically generated based on the output of the surface matching component, which reduces the complexity of the appearance-based matching stage. Three-dimensional models in the gallery are used to synthesize new appearance samples with pose and illumination variations and the synthesized face images are used in discriminant subspace analysis. The weighted sum rule is applied to combine the scores given by the two matching components. Experimental results are given for matching a database of 200 3D face models with 598 2.5D independent test scans acquired under different pose and some lighting and expression changes. These results show the feasibility of the proposed matching scheme.     

综合鲁棒特征和在线学习的自适应三维人脸多特征跟踪

提出一种灰度与边强度信息相结合的鲁棒特征并综合在线学习方法来进行自适应视频人脸多特征跟踪.算法思想是利用三维参数化网格模型对人脸及表情进行建模,利用弱透视模型对头部姿态建模,求取归一化后的形状无关灰度和边强度纹理组合成一种鲁棒特征,建立单高斯自适应纹理模型,并采用梯度下降迭代算法进行模型匹配得到姿态和表情参数.实验证明,本方法比单纯利用灰度特征在复杂光线和表情下具有更好的鲁棒性.     

Face Relighting from a Single Image under Arbitrary Unknown Lighting Conditions

In this paper, we present a new method to modify the appearance of a face image by manipulating the illumination condition, when the face geometry and albedo information is unknown. This problem is particularly difficult when there is only a single image of the subject available. Recent research demonstrates that the set of images of a convex Lambertian object obtained under a wide variety of lighting conditions can be approximated accurately by a low-dimensional linear subspace using a spherical harmonic representation. Moreover, morphable models are statistical ensembles of facial properties such as shape and texture. In this paper, we integrate spherical harmonics into the morphable model framework by proposing a 3D spherical harmonic basis morphable model (SHBMM). The proposed method can represent a face under arbitrary unknown lighting and pose simply by three low-dimensional vectors, i.e., shape parameters, spherical harmonic basis parameters, and illumination coefficients, which are called the SHBMM parameters. However, when the image was taken under an extreme lighting condition, the approximation error can be large, thus making it difficult to recover albedo information. In order to address this problem, we propose a subregion-based framework that uses a Markov random field to model the statistical distribution and spatial coherence of face texture, which makes our approach not only robust to extreme lighting conditions, but also insensitive to partial occlusions. The performance of our framework is demonstrated through various experimental results, including the improved rates for face recognition under extreme lighting conditions.     

Realistic mouth synthesis based on shape appearance dependence mapping

Mouth images are difficult to synthesize because they vary greatly according to different illumination, size and shape of mouth opening, and especially visibility of teeth and tongue. Conventional approaches such as manipulating 3D model or warping images do not produce very realistic animation. To overcome these difficulties, we describe a method of producing large variations of mouth shape and gray-level appearance using a compact parametric appearance model, which represents both shape and gray-level appearance. We find the high correlation between shape model parameters and gray-level model parameters, and design a shape appearance dependence mapping (SADM) strategy that converts one to the other. Once mouth shape parameters are derived from speech analysis, a proper full mouth appearance can be reconstructed with SADM. Some synthetic results of representative mouth appearance are shown in our experiments, they are very close to real mouth images. The proposed technique can be integrated into a speech-driven face animation system. In effect, SADM can synthesize not only the mouth image but also different kinds of dynamic facial texture, such as furrow, dimple and cheekbone shadows.     

Illumination normalization of facial images by reversing the process of image formation

Variations in illumination degrade the performance of appearance based face recognition. We present a novel algorithm for the normalization of color facial images using a single image and its co-registered 3D pointcloud (3D image). The algorithm borrows the physically based Phong’s lighting model from computer graphics which is used for rendering computer images and employs it in a reverse mode for the calculation of face albedo from real facial images. Our algorithm estimates the number of the dominant light sources and their directions from the specularities in the facial image and the corresponding 3D points. The intensities of the light sources and the parameters of the Phong’s model are estimated by fitting the Phong’s model onto the facial skin data. Unlike existing approaches, our algorithm takes into account both Lambertian and specular reflections as well as attached and cast shadows. Moreover, our algorithm is invariant to facial pose and expression and can effectively handle the case of multiple extended light sources. The algorithm was tested on the challenging FRGC v2.0 data and satisfactory results were achieved. The mean fitting error was 6.3% of the maximum color value. Performing face recognition using the normalized images increased both identification and verification rates.     

Pose-invariant face recognition using a 3D deformable model

The paper proposes a novel, pose-invariant face recognition system based on a deformable, generic 3D face model, that is a composite of: (1) an edge model, (2) a color region model and (3) a wireframe model for jointly describing the shape and important features of the face. The first two submodels are used for image analysis and the third mainly for face synthesis. In order to match the model to face images in arbitrary poses, the 3D model can be projected onto different 2D viewplanes based on rotation, translation and scale parameters, thereby generating multiple face-image templates (in different sizes and orientations). Face shape variations among people are taken into account by the deformation parameters of the model. Given an unknown face, its pose is estimated by model matching and the system synthesizes face images of known subjects in the same pose. The face is then classified as the subject whose synthesized image is most similar. The synthesized images are generated using a 3D face representation scheme which encodes the 3D shape and texture characteristics of the faces. This face representation is automatically derived from training face images of the subject. Experimental results show that the method is capable of determining pose and recognizing faces accurately over a wide range of poses and with naturally varying lighting conditions. Recognition rates of 92.3% have been achieved by the method with 10 training face images per person.     

基于特征点表情变化的3维人脸识别

目的 为克服表情变化对3维人脸识别的影响,提出一种基于特征点提取局部区域特征的3维人脸识别方法。方法 首先,在深度图上应用2维图像的ASM(active shape model)算法粗略定位出人脸特征点,再根据Shape index特征在人脸点云上精确定位出特征点。其次,提取以鼻中为中心的一系列等测地轮廓线来表征人脸形状;然后,提取具有姿态不变性的Procrustean向量特征(距离和角度)作为识别特征;最后,对各条等测地轮廓线特征的分类结果进行了比较,并对分类结果进行决策级融合。结果 在FRGC V2.0人脸数据库分别进行特征点定位实验和识别实验,平均定位误差小于2.36 mm,Rank-1识别率为98.35%。结论 基于特征点的3维人脸识别方法,通过特征点在人脸近似刚性区域提取特征,有效避免了受表情影响较大的嘴部区域。实验证明该方法具有较高的识别精度,同时对姿态、表情变化具有一定的鲁棒性。     

基于HMM的单样本可变光照、姿态人脸识别

提出了一种基于HMM的单样本可变光照、姿态人脸识别算法.该算法首先利用人工配准的训练集对单张正面人脸输入图像与Candide3模型进行自动配准,在配准的基础上重建特定人脸三维模型.对重建模型进行各种角度的旋转可得到姿态不同的数字人脸,然后利用球面谐波基图像调整数字人脸的光照系数可产生光照不同的数字人脸.将产生的光照、姿态不同的数字人脸同原始样本图像一起作为训练数据,为每个用户建立其独立的人脸隐马尔可夫模型.将所提算法对现有人脸库进行识别,并与基于光照补偿和姿态校正的识别方法进行比较.结果显示,该算法能有效避免光照补偿、姿态校正方法因对某些光照、姿态校正不理想而造成的识别率低的情况,能更好地适应光照、姿态不同条件下的人脸识别.     

Pose-Robust Facial Expression Recognition Using View-Based 2D $+$ 3D AAM

This paper proposes a pose-robust face tracking and facial expression recognition method using a view-based 2D 3D active appearance model (AAM) that extends the 2D 3D AAM to the view-based approach, where one independent face model is used for a specific view and an appropriate face model is selected for the input face image. Our extension has been conducted in many aspects. First, we use principal component analysis with missing data to construct the 2D 3D AAM due to the missing data in the posed face images. Second, we develop an effective model selection method that directly uses the estimated pose angle from the 2D 3D AAM, which makes face tracking pose-robust and feature extraction for facial expression recognition accurate. Third, we propose a double-layered generalized discriminant analysis (GDA) for facial expression recognition. Experimental results show the following: 1) The face tracking by the view-based 2D 3D AAM, which uses multiple face models with one face model per each view, is more robust to pose change than that by an integrated 2D 3D AAM, which uses an integrated face model for all three views; 2) the double-layered GDA extracts good features for facial expression recognition; and 3) the view-based 2D 3D AAM outperforms other existing models at pose-varying facial expression recognition.     

Deformation modeling for robust 3D face matching

Face recognition based on 3D surface matching is promising for overcoming some of the limitations of current 2D image-based face recognition systems. The 3D shape is generally invariant to the pose and lighting changes, but not invariant to the non-rigid facial movement, such as expressions. Collecting and storing multiple templates to account for various expressions for each subject in a large database is not practical. We propose a facial surface modeling and matching scheme to match 2.5D facial scans in the presence of both non-rigid deformations and pose changes (multiview) to a 3D face template. A hierarchical geodesic-based resampling approach is applied to extract landmarks for modeling facial surface deformations. We are able to synthesize the deformation learned from a small group of subjects (control group) onto a 3D neutral model (not in the control group), resulting in a deformed template. A user-specific (3D) deformable model is built by combining the templates with synthesized deformations. The matching distance is computed by fitting this generative deformable model to a test scan. A fully automatic and prototypic 3D face matching system has been developed. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed deformation modeling scheme increases the 3D face matching accuracy.     

Application notes - Algorithms for Assessing the Quality of Facial Images

In this paper, we presented algorithms to assess the quality of facial images affected by factors such as blurriness, lighting conditions, head pose variations, and facial expressions. We developed face recognition prediction functions for images affected by blurriness, lighting conditions, and head pose variations based upon the eigenface technique. We also developed a classifier for images affected by facial expressions to assess their quality for recognition by the eigenface technique. Our experiments using different facial image databases showed that our algorithms are capable of assessing the quality of facial images. These algorithms could be used in a module for facial image quality assessment in a face recognition system. In the future, we will integrate the different measures of image quality to produce a single measure that indicates the overall quality of a face image     

结合形变模型与图像修复的人脸姿态矫正

目的 人脸姿态偏转是影响人脸识别准确率的一个重要因素,本文利用3维人脸重建中常用的3维形变模型以及深度卷积神经网络,提出一种用于多姿态人脸识别的人脸姿态矫正算法,在一定程度上提高了大姿态下人脸识别的准确率。方法 对传统的3维形变模型拟合方法进行改进,利用人脸形状参数和表情参数对3维形变模型进行建模,针对面部不同区域的关键点赋予不同的权值,加权拟合3维形变模型,使得具有不同姿态和面部表情的人脸图像拟合效果更好。然后,对3维人脸模型进行姿态矫正并利用深度学习对人脸图像进行修复,修复不规则的人脸空洞区域,并使用最新的局部卷积技术同时在新的数据集上重新训练卷积神经网络,使得网络参数达到最优。结果 在LFW（labeled faces in the wild）人脸数据库和StirlingESRC（Economic Social Research Council）3维人脸数据库上,将本文算法与其他方法进行比较,实验结果表明,本文算法的人脸识别精度有一定程度的提高。在LFW数据库上,通过对具有任意姿态的人脸图像进行姿态矫正和修复后,本文方法达到了96.57%的人脸识别精确度。在StirlingESRC数据库上,本文方法在人脸姿态为±22°的情况下,人脸识别准确率分别提高5.195%和2.265%;在人脸姿态为±45°情况下,人脸识别准确率分别提高5.875%和11.095%;平均人脸识别率分别提高5.53%和7.13%。对比实验结果表明,本文提出的人脸姿态矫正算法有效提高了人脸识别的准确率。结论 本文提出的人脸姿态矫正算法,综合了3维形变模型和深度学习模型的优点,在各个人脸姿态角度下,均能使人脸识别准确率在一定程度上有所提高。     

Real-time face tracking and recognition by sparse eigentracker with associative mapping to 3D shape

This paper proposes a novel framework of real-time face tracking and recognition by combining two eigen-based methods. The first method is a novel extension of eigenface called augmented eigenface and the second method is a sparse 3D eigentemplate tracker controlled by a particle filter. The augmented eigenface is an eigenface augmented by an associative mapping to 3D shape that is specified by a set of volumetric face models. This paper discusses how to make up the augmented eigenface and how it can be used for inference of 3D shape from partial images. The associative mapping is also generalized to subspace-to-one mappings to cover photometric image changes for a fixed shape. A novel technique, called photometric adjustment, is introduced for simple implementation of associative mapping when an image subspace should be combined to a shape. The sparse 3D eigentemplate tracker is an extension of the 3D template tracker proposed by Oka et al. In combination with the augmented eigenface, the sparse 3D eigentemplate tracker facilitates real-time 3D tracking and recognition when a monocular image sequence is provided. In the tracking, sparse 3D eigentemplate is updated by the augmented eigenface while face pose is estimated by the sparse eigentracker. Since the augmented eigenface is constructed on the conventional eigenfaces, face identification and expression recognition are also accomplished efficiently during the tracking. In the experiment, an augmented eigenface was constructed from 25 faces where 24 images were taken in different lighting conditions for each face. Experimental results show that the augmented eigenface works with the 3D eigentemplate tracker for real-time tracking and recognition.     

Non-lambertian reflectance modeling and shape recovery of faces using tensor splines

Modeling illumination effects and pose variations of a face is of fundamental importance in the field of facial image analysis. Most of the conventional techniques that simultaneously address both of these problems work with the Lambertian assumption and thus fall short of accurately capturing the complex intensity variation that the facial images exhibit or recovering their 3D shape in the presence of specularities and cast shadows. In this paper, we present a novel Tensor-Spline-based framework for facial image analysis. We show that, using this framework, the facial apparent BRDF field can be accurately estimated while seamlessly accounting for cast shadows and specularities. Further, using local neighborhood information, the same framework can be exploited to recover the 3D shape of the face (to handle pose variation). We quantitatively validate the accuracy of the Tensor Spline model using a more general model based on the mixture of single-lobed spherical functions. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our technique by presenting extensive experimental results for face relighting, 3D shape recovery, and face recognition using the Extended Yale B and CMU PIE benchmark data sets.     

基于Candide-3模型的姿态表情人脸识别研究

针对姿态表情严重影响人脸识别准确率的问题,基于Candide-3模型的简化,提出了形状表情关键点拟合的人脸几何结构重建和基于三角网格模型的纹理映射的方法,该方法确定关键特征点,根据人脸的几何结构信息确定姿态角,提取Candide-3模型形状表情对应点,调整模型参数,进行几何结构重建;对几何结构中每个三角网格模型进行纹理影射,得到逼真的特定人脸模型.实验结果表明,该方法提高了人脸重建速度,达到减弱姿态表情对人脸识别影响的目的.     

From few to many: illumination cone models for face recognitionunder variable lighting and pose

We present a generative appearance-based method for recognizing human faces under variation in lighting and viewpoint. Our method exploits the fact that the set of images of an object in fixed pose, but under all possible illumination conditions, is a convex cone in the space of images. Using a small number of training images of each face taken with different lighting directions, the shape and albedo of the face can be reconstructed. In turn, this reconstruction serves as a generative model that can be used to render (or synthesize) images of the face under novel poses and illumination conditions. The pose space is then sampled and, for each pose, the corresponding illumination cone is approximated by a low-dimensional linear subspace whose basis vectors are estimated using the generative model. Our recognition algorithm assigns to a test image the identity of the closest approximated illumination cone. Test results show that the method performs almost without error, except on the most extreme lighting directions     

3D face computational photography using PCA spaces

In this paper, we present a 3D face photography system based on a facial expression training dataset, composed of both facial range images (3D geometry) and facial texture (2D photography). The proposed system allows one to obtain a 3D geometry representation of a given face provided as a 2D photography, which undergoes a series of transformations through the texture and geometry spaces estimated. In the training phase of the system, the facial landmarks are obtained by an active shape model (ASM) extracted from the 2D gray-level photography. Principal components analysis (PCA) is then used to represent the face dataset, thus defining an orthonormal basis of texture and another of geometry. In the reconstruction phase, an input is given by a face image to which the ASM is matched. The extracted facial landmarks and the face image are fed to the PCA basis transform, and a 3D version of the 2D input image is built. Experimental tests using a new dataset of 70 facial expressions belonging to ten subjects as training set show rapid reconstructed 3D faces which maintain spatial coherence similar to the human perception, thus corroborating the efficiency and the applicability of the proposed system.     

Three-dimensional view-invariant face recognition using a hierarchical pose-normalization strategy

Face recognition from three-dimensional (3D) shape data has been proposed as a method of biometric identification as a way of either supplanting or reinforcing a two-dimensional approach. This paper presents a 3D face recognition system capable of recognizing the identity of an individual from a 3D facial scan in any pose across the view-sphere, by suitably comparing it with a set of models (all in frontal pose) stored in a database. The system makes use of only 3D shape data, ignoring textural information completely. Firstly, we propose a generic learning strategy using support vector regression [Burges, Data Mining Knowl Discov 2(2): 121–167, 1998] to estimate the approximate pose of a 3D head. The support vector machine (SVM) is trained on range images in several poses belonging to only a small set of individuals and is able to coarsely estimate the pose of any unseen facial scan. Secondly, we propose a hierarchical two-step strategy to normalize a facial scan to a nearly frontal pose before performing any recognition. The first step consists of either a coarse normalization making use of facial features or the generic learning algorithm using the SVM. This is followed by an iterative technique to refine the alignment to the frontal pose, which is basically an improved form of the Iterated Closest Point Algorithm [Besl and Mckay, IEEE Trans Pattern Anal Mach Intell 14(2):239–256, 1992]. The latter step produces a residual error value, which can be used as a metric to gauge the similarity between two faces. Our two-step approach is experimentally shown to outperform both of the individual normalization methods in terms of recognition rates, over a very wide range of facial poses. Our strategy has been tested on a large database of 3D facial scans in which the training and test images of each individual were acquired at significantly different times, unlike all except two of the existing 3D face recognition methods.     

对表情鲁棒的面部轮廓线3维人脸识别

目的表情变化是3维人脸识别面临的主要问题。为克服表情影响,提出了一种基于面部轮廓线对表情鲁棒的3维人脸识别方法。方法首先,对人脸进行预处理,包括人脸区域切割、平滑处理和姿态归一化,将所有的人脸置于姿态坐标系下;然后,从3维人脸模型的半刚性区域提取人脸多条垂直方向的轮廓线来表征人脸面部曲面;最后,利用弹性曲线匹配算法计算不同3维人脸模型间对应的轮廓线在预形状空间(preshape space)中的测地距离,将其作为相似性度量,并且对所有轮廓线的相似度向量加权融合,得到总相似度用于分类。结果在FRGC v2.0数据库上进行识别实验,获得97.1%的Rank-1识别率。结论基于面部轮廓线的3维人脸识别方法,通过从人脸的半刚性区域提取多条面部轮廓线来表征人脸,在一定程度上削弱了表情的影响,同时还提高了人脸匹配速度。实验结果表明,该方法具有较强的识别性能,并且对表情变化具有较好的鲁棒性。     

一种鲁棒的全自动人脸特征点定位方法

人脸特征点定位的目标是能够对人脸进行全自动精确定位. 主动形状模型(Active shape modal, ASM)和主动表象模型(Active appearance modal, AAM)的发表为全自动人脸特征点定位工作提供了很好的思路和解决框架. 之后很多研究工作也都在ASM和AAM的框架下进行了改进. 但是目前的研究工作尚未很好地解决人脸表情、光照以及姿态变化情况下的人脸特征点定位问题, 本文基于ASM框架提出了全自动人脸特征点定位算法. 和传统ASM方法以及ASM的改进方法的不同在于: 1)引进有效的机器学习方法来建立局部纹理模型. 这部分工作改进了传统ASM方法中用灰度图像的梯度分布进行局部纹理建模的方法, 引入了基于随机森林分类器和点对比较特征的局部纹理建模方法. 这种方法基于大量样本的统计学习, 能够有效解决人脸特征点定位中光照和表情变化这些难点; 2)在人脸模型参数优化部分, 本文成功地将分类器输出的结果结合到人脸模型参数优化的目标函数当中, 并且加入形状限制项使得优化的目标函数更为合理. 本文在包含表情、光照以及姿态变化的人脸数据上进行实验, 实验结果证明本文提出的全自动人脸特征点定位方法能够有效地适应人脸的光照和表情变化. 在姿态数据库上的测试结果说明了本算法的有效性.