Feature Point Extraction in Face Image by Neural Network

Conventionally, manual operations that specify positions of feature points such as eyes and nose are needed when morphing is carried out for a face image. In this work, the feature points are therefore extracted by using face area detection and a feature points decision methods to automate positional specification of feature points. As a result, the morphing of a face image can be carried out without manually specifying feature points. Face area detection is achieved by a threshold method using the YIQ color system. Feature points decision method extracts feature points by using a 3 layer perceptron type neural network (back-propagation). The attribute of the feature of eyes is defined to be a value of A in the color system LAB. In the same way, the attribute of feature points of the lip is defined as a value of B in the color system LAB. The extraction experiment of feature points was conducted from 120 face images by using the neural network, and the effectiveness of the present method was verified