A real-time multi face detection technique using positive-negative lines-of-face template

This paper describes a real-time multi face detection technique for color video sequences. A 3D rational skin color model and a positive-negative lines-of-face template are proposed to improve signal to noise ratio (SNR) in face detection. Steady state genetic algorithm (SSGA) is employed for lines-of-face detection from the entire image. Hardware architecture is optimized for high-speed operation and small hardware resources. An experimental system is developed in field programmable gate array (FPGA), with only 40 k gates for logic and 240 k gates for memory. It detects 6 faces in real-time (30fps:every 33 ms) from 320×240pixels (QVGA) color video sequences. Detection rate of 98% is achieved for 89 images including 205 faces from daily scenes.