Stereo Face Modeling for Feature Extraction in an Infrared Image

A new method to model 3D face and detect the facial features in infrared image is proposed. We developed a method for creating photo-realistic 3D facial models from stereo of a human subject. In a vision system include a visible camera and an infrared camera, 3D geometric relationship between the infrared camera and visible camera are calibrated. Eye and mouth corners are detected in the visible image and the head pose with respect to the visible camera is estimated based on the corners. The corresponding feature points in the IR image can be found by the head pose and the known 3D geometric relationship between the visible and infrared cameras. By doing so, the skin temperature range within the infrared image can be superimposed over the visible face image and vice versa. Experimental results on real images have verified the efficiency of the algorithm.