Face recognition based on obtaining two dimensional information from three-dimensional face shapes

• US 20040223631A1
• Filed: 05/07/2003
• Published: 11/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Fish & Richardson PC
• Original Assignee: Fish & Richardson PC
• Inventors: Medioni, Gerard, Waupotitsch, Roman, Zwern, Arthur
• Application Number:
  US10/434,481
• Publication Number:
  US 20040223631A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/118
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/28 Determining representative reference patterns, e.g. by averaging or distorting; Generating dictionaries
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/647 by matching two-dimensional images to three-dimensional objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/16 Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions

Abstract

A system of using three-dimensional information as a front and for a two-dimensional image comparison system. The three-dimensional information is obtained that is indicated of a known user'"'"'s face. This three-dimensional information is used to generate two-dimensional views from different perspectives, including different poses and/or different lighting effects, and used to populate a database of a two-dimensional recognition system. The images are then two-dimensionally recognized using conventional two-dimensional recognition techniques, but this two-dimensional recognition is carried out on an improved database.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining information about a known enrollee'"'"'s face, said information being a type from which a number of different images can be formed;

forming information about images from said known information; and

using said information for a two-dimensional face comparison.

2. A method as in claim 1, wherein said known information comprises three-dimensional information indicative of a shape of a user'"'"'s face.

3. A method as in claim 2, further comprising using a three-dimensional acquisition device to obtain said three-dimensional information.

4. A method as in claim 2, wherein said forming information comprises forming a plurality of two-dimensional images which are compensated for different amounts of misrecognition parameters.

5. A method as in claim 4, wherein said forming information comprises forming a plurality of images at different poses.

6. A method as in claim 4, wherein said forming information comprises forming a plurality of images at different lighting effects.

7. A method as in claim 6, wherein said forming information comprises forming a plurality of images at different poses and at said different lighting effects.

8. A method as in claim 2, wherein said forming comprises forming an image which is compensated for misrecognition parameters based on characteristics of a specific face recognition.

9. A method as in claim 1, further comprising obtaining a two-dimensional image of a face to be compared, and comparing said two-dimensional image using said information.

10. A method, comprising:

obtaining three-dimensional information indicative of a user'"'"'s face; and

using said three-dimensional information to improve a two-dimensional face recognition.

11. A method as in claim 10, wherein said using comprises using said three-dimensional information to form a two-dimensional template indicative of a known user'"'"'s face which is corrected for a misrecognition parameter, obtaining a two-dimensional image indicative of an unknown user'"'"'s face;

and comparing the two-dimensional template to the two-dimensional image.

12. A method as in claim 11, wherein said misrecognition parameter includes pose of the unknown user.

13. A method as in claim 11, wherein said misrecognition parameter includes lighting of the picture of the unknown user.

14. A method as in claim 11, wherein said obtaining comprises pre-computing a plurality of different two-dimensional images from the three-dimensional information, and populating a biometric database with said plurality of two-dimensional images.

15. A method as in claim 11, wherein said obtaining comprises determining a characteristic of the unknown user, and forming a two-dimensional image based on the determined characteristic.

16. A method as in claim 15, wherein said characteristic is automatically determined.

17. A method as in claim 15, wherein said characteristic is manually determined.

18. A face recognition system comprising:

a camera obtaining a two-dimensional image of an unknown person;

a memory, which stores three-dimensional information of at least one known person; and

a processor, forming two-dimensional information from the three-dimensional information and comparing the formed two-dimensional information with the image of the unknown person.

19. A system as in claim 18, wherein said processor pre-computes a plurality of items of two-dimensional information, and stores the pre-computed information in the memory.

20. A system as in claim 18, wherein the processor determines characteristics of said image of said unknown person, and produces a two-dimensional image from the three-dimensional information based on said characteristics.

21. A method, comprising:

using three dimensional information indicative of a user'"'"'s face to form two dimensional information indicative of the user'"'"'s face at a desired pose; and

using said two dimensional information in a biometric system.