3-D face structure extraction and recognition from images using 3-D morphing and distance mapping

We describe a novel approach for creating a three-dimensional (3-D) face structure from multiple image views of a human face taken at a priori unknown poses by appropriately morphing a generic 3-D face. A cubic explicit polynomial in 3-D is used to morph a generic face into the specific face structure. The 3-D face structure allows for accurate pose estimation as well as the synthesis of virtual images to be matched with a test image for face identification. The estimation of a 3-D person's face and pose estimation is achieved through the use of a distance map metric. This distance map residual error (geometric-based face classifier) and the image intensity residual error are fused in identifying a person in the database from one or more arbitrary image view(s). Experimental results are shown on simulated data in the presence of noise, as well as for images of real faces, and promising results are obtained.