System and method for effectively extracting facial feature information

• US 7,239,726 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2002
• Issued: 07/03/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Li, Pingshan
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehta; Bhavesh M
• Assistant Examiner(s): KUHN, JORDAN M
• Application Number:
  US10/314,700
• Publication Number:
  US 20030108225A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,667 Days
• Field of Search: 382/117, 382/118
• US Class Current: 382/118
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/168 Feature extraction; Face representation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/18 Eye characteristics, e.g. of the iris

Abstract

A system and method for effectively extracting facial feature information from image data may include a facial feature detector configured to generate facial feature information. The facial feature detector may perform an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating eye information and eyebrow information. The facial feature detector may utilize an eyebrow filter to detect eyebrow location coordinates and eyebrow slope characteristics. Similarly, the facial feature detector may utilize an iris filter to detect iris location coordinates. The facial feature detector may also perform a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating corresponding nose/nostril location information and mouth/lip location information.

Claims

1. A system for effectively analyzing image data, comprising:

a facial feature detector configured to generate facial feature information by analyzing said image data, said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said facial feature detector performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said facial feature detector also separately performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information, said facial feature detector further utilizing a feature filter to refine said facial feature information for a facial feature, said feature filter having a plurality of segments that collectively are shaped to represent said facial feature, said facial feature detector moving said feature filter over pixels of said image data to repeatedly calculate feature merit values from said pixels currently aligned with said feature filter, said feature merit values being determined by calculating sums of pixel values corresponding with each of said segments and then calculating a weighted difference of said sums, an optimal one of said feature merit values accurately locating said facial feature in said image data; and

a processor configured to control said facial feature detector to thereby effectively analyze said image data.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein a face detector module performs an initial face detection procedure to convert said image data into a gray-scale format, said face detector module then generating approximate location information for a subject face in said image data.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein said facial feature detector performs a face rotation procedure upon said subject face in said image data to realign said subject face in a vertical alignment.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein said facial feature detector calculates rotated coordinates for pixels in said subject face by utilizing a rotation matrix formula:

$\left[\begin{array}{c}{X}_2\\ Y_2\end{array}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{cc}\cos <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}& -\sin <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}\\ \sin <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}& \cos <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}\end{array}\right]<br><br>\left[\begin{array}{c}{X}_1\\ Y_1\end{array}\right]$

where X₁ and Y₁ are non-rotated coordinates in a non-vertical face window, X₂ and Y₂ are said rotated coordinates in a vertical face window, and θ

is an angle of rotation, said facial feature detector decomposing said rotation matrix formula into a series of three one-dimensional translations according to a decomposed formula;

$\left[\begin{array}{cc}\cos <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}& -\sin <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}\\ \sin <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}& \cos <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}\end{array}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{cc}1& -\tan <br><br>\frac{\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}}{2}\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right]<br><br>\left[\begin{array}{cc}1& 0\\ \sin <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}& 1\end{array}\right]<br><br>\left[\begin{array}{cc}1& -\tan <br><br>\frac{\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}}{2}\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right]$

where a first matrix moves said pixels in an initial horizontal direction, a second matrix moves said pixels in a vertical direction, and a third matrix again moves said pixels in a final horizontal direction.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein said facial feature detector creates a mouth-area window around an approximate mouth area in said subject face, said mouth-area window including a nose and a mouth.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said facial feature detector performs said mouth-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said mouth-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said mouth-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of a nostril region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a central second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an upper lip region in said subject face, said facial feature detector further identifying a third low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of a lower lip region in said subject face.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein said facial feature detector performs said mouth-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said mouth-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said mouth-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an nostril region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of a closed-mouth region in said subject face.

8. The system of claim 3 wherein said facial feature detector creates an eye-area window around an approximate eye area in said subject face, said eye-area window including an eye and an eyebrow.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein said eye-area window is implemented with a width of “

M” and

a height of “

M”

where “

M”

is an approximate distance between eye areas in said subject face.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein said facial feature detector performs said eye-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said eye-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said eye-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eyebrow region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eye region in said subject face.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein said facial feature detector utilizes an eyebrow filter to detect an upper edge and a slope angle of said eyebrow from said subject face.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein said eyebrow filter is implemented to have a filter width of “

M” and

a filter height of “

M/4”

, where “

M”

is an approximate distance between two eyes of said subject face.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein said facial feature detector utilizes an iris filter to detect coordinates for an iris region in said eye-area of said subject face.

14. The system of claim 8 wherein said histogram exhibits only one low-amplitude point, said facial feature detector then identifying said one low-amplitude point as corresponding to said eye region of said subject face.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein a face recognition module performs a face recognition procedure for two faces by calculating absolute differences between corresponding facial feature parameters, said face recognition module next applying weighting values to said absolute differences to produce weighted differences, said face recognition module then calculating a final sum of said weighted differences, said face recognition module utilizing said final sum as a score to measure a similarity between said two faces, said facial parameters including a distance between irises in a subject face which is normalized and rescaled to a standard size, an averaged eyebrow angle from eyebrows of said subject face, a distance between corresponding eyebrows and irises of said subject face, and a distance between an eyeline connecting two irises of said subject face and a mouth from said subject face.

16. A system for effectively analyzing image data, comprising:

a facial feature detector configured to generate facial feature information by analyzing said image data, said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said facial feature detector performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said facial feature detector also separately performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information, said facial feature detector further utilizing a feature filter to refine said facial feature information for a facial feature, said feature filter having a plurality of segments that collectively are shaped to represent said facial feature, said facial feature detector moving said feature filter over pixels of said image data to repeatedly calculate feature merit values from said pixels currently aligned with said feature filter, an optimal one of said feature merit values accurately locating said facial feature in said image data, a face detector module performing an initial face detection procedure to convert said image data into a gray-scale format, said face detector module then generating approximate location information for a subject face in said image data, said facial feature detector performing a face rotation procedure upon said subject face in said image data to realign said subject face in a vertical alignment, said facial feature detector creating an eye-area window around an approximate eye area in said subject face, said eye-area window including an eye and an eyebrow, said facial feature detector performing said eye-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said eye-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said eye-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eyebrow region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eye region in said subject face,

said facial feature detector determining a correct separator area between said first low-amplitude point and said second low-amplitude point by selecting a maximum separator merit value of separator area candidates according to a formula;

Merit Value=Separator Candidate Value−

10 (Eyebrow Value−

Eye Value);

and a processor configured to control said facial feature detector to thereby effectively analyze said image data.

17. A system for effectively analyzing image data, comprising:

a facial feature detector configured to generate facial feature information by analyzing said image data, said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said facial feature detector performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said facial feature detector also performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information;

a face detector module that performs an initial face detection procedure to convert said image data into a gray-scale format, said face detector module then generating approximate location information for a subject face in said image data, said facial feature detector performing a face rotation procedure upon said subject face in said image data to realign said subject face in a vertical alignment, said facial feature detector creating an eye-area window around an approximate eye area in said subject face, said eye-area window including an eye and an eyebrow, said facial feature detector performing said eye-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said eye-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said eye-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eyebrow region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eye region in said subject face, said facial feature detector utilizing an eyebrow filter to detect an upper edge and a slope angle of said eyebrow from said subject face, said eyebrow filter being implemented to have a filter width of “

M” and

a filter height of “

M/4”

, where “

M”

is an approximate distance between two eyes of said subject face, said facial feature detector moving said eyebrow filter, pixel by pixel, to different locations of said eyebrow region in said eye-area window, said facial feature detector, at each of said different locations, adding all pixel values in an upper portion of said eyebrow filter to produce an upper value, said facial feature detector also adding all pixel values in a lower portion of said eyebrow filter to produce a lower value, said facial feature detector then subtracting said lower value from said upper value to produce a local eyebrow value for each corresponding position of said eyebrow filter, said facial feature detector then selecting a maximum local eyebrow value to accurately detect a position and a slope angle of a corresponding eyebrow; and

a processor configured to control said facial feature detector to thereby effectively analyze said image data.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said facial feature detector tilts said eyebrow filter to calculate tilted local eyebrow values, said facial feature detector then selecting a maximum tilted local eyebrow value to accurately detect said slope angle of said eyebrow.

19. A system for effectively analyzing image data, comprising:

a facial feature detector configured to generate facial feature information by analyzing said image data, said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said facial feature detector performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said facial feature detector also performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information;

a face detector module that performs an initial face detection procedure to convert said image data into a gray-scale format, said face detector module then generating approximate location information for a subject face in said image data, said facial feature detector performing a face rotation procedure upon said subject face in said image data to realign said subject face in a vertical alignment, said facial feature detector creating an eye-area window around an approximate eye area in said subject face, said eye-area window including an eye and an eyebrow, said facial feature detector performing said eye-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said eye-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said eye-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eyebrow region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eye region in said subject face, said facial feature detector utilizing an iris filter to detect coordinates for an iris region in said eye-area of said subject face, said iris filter being implemented to include an iris area with an iris radius “

r”

that is approximately equal to 0.09×

“

M”

, where “

M”

is an approximate distance between eyes in said subject face, said iris filter also being implemented with a pupil area having a pupil radius that is approximately equal to “

r/2”

, where “

r”

is said iris radius, said iris filter further being implemented with a eye-white area having an eye-white radius that is approximately equal to “

1.5×

r”

, where “

r”

is said iris radius; and

a processor configured to control said facial feature detector to thereby effectively analyze said image data.

20. A system for effectively analyzing image data, comprising:

a facial feature detector configured to generate facial feature information by analyzing said image data, said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said facial feature detector performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said facial feature detector also performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information;

a face detector module that performs an initial face detection procedure to convert said image data into a gray-scale format, said face detector module then generating approximate location information for a subject face in said image data, said facial feature detector performing a face rotation procedure upon said subject face in said image data to realign said subject face in a vertical alignment, said facial feature detector creating an eye-area window around an approximate eye area in said subject face, said eye-area window including an eye and an eyebrow, said facial feature detector performing said eye-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said eye-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said eye-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eyebrow region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eye region in said subject face, said facial feature detector utilizing an iris filter to detect coordinates for an iris region in said eye-area of said subject face, said facial feature detector moving said iris filter, pixel by pixel, to different locations in an eye-area window around said eye area, said facial feature detector, at each of said different locations, generating a white-area value that is equal to a sum all pixel values in said eye-white area of said iris filter, said facial feature detector also generating an eyelid value that is equal to a sum all pixel values in an eyelid area of said iris filter, said facial feature detector further generating an iris value that is equal to a sum of all pixel values in said iris area, said facial feature detector then calculating an iris merit value at each of said different locations according to a formula;

Iris Merit Value=(2×

white-area value)−

(3×

eyelid value)−

(6×

iris value)

said facial feature detector then selecting a maximum iris merit value to accurately detect coordinates of said iris area; and

a processor configured to control said facial feature detector to thereby effectively analyze said image data.

21. A method for effectively analyzing image data, comprising the steps of:

analyzing said image data with a facial feature detector to generate facial feature information, said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said facial feature detector performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said facial feature detector also separately performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information;

utilizing a feature filter to refine said facial feature information for a facial feature, said feature filter having a plurality of segments that collectively are shaped to represent said facial feature, said facial feature detector moving said feature filter over pixels of said image data to repeatedly calculate feature merit values from said pixels currently aligned with said feature filter, said feature merit values being determined by calculating sums of pixel values corresponding with each of said segments and then calculating a weighted difference of said sums, an optimal one of said feature merit values accurately locating said facial feature in said image data; and

controlling said facial feature detector with a processor to thereby effectively analyze said image data.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein a face detector module performs an initial face detection procedure to convert said image data into a gray-scale format, said face detector module then generating approximate location information for a subject face in said image data.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein said facial feature detector performs a face rotation procedure upon said subject face in said image data to realign said subject face in a vertical alignment.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein said facial feature detector calculates rotated coordinates for pixels in said subject face by utilizing a rotation matrix formula:

$\left[\begin{array}{c}{X}_2\\ Y_2\end{array}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{cc}\cos <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}& -\sin <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}\\ \sin <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}& \cos <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}\end{array}\right]<br><br>\left[\begin{array}{c}{X}_1\\ Y_1\end{array}\right]$

where X₁ and Y₁ are non-rotated coordinates in a non-vertical face window, X₂ and Y₂ are said rotated coordinates in a vertical face window, and θ

is an angle of rotation, said facial feature detector decomposing said rotation matrix formula into a series of three one-dimensional translations according to a decomposed formula;

$\left[\begin{array}{cc}\cos <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}& -\sin <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}\\ \sin <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}& \cos <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}\end{array}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{cc}1& -\tan <br><br>\frac{\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}}{2}\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right]<br><br>\left[\begin{array}{cc}1& 0\\ \sin <br><br><br><br>\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}& 1\end{array}\right]<br><br>\left[\begin{array}{cc}1& -\tan <br><br>\frac{\mathrm{\theta <br><br>}}{2}\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right]$

where a first matrix moves said pixels in an initial horizontal direction, a second matrix moves said pixels in a vertical direction, and a third matrix again moves said pixels in a final horizontal direction.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein said facial feature detector creates an mouth-area window around an approximate mouth-area in said subject face, said mouth-area window including a nose and a mouth.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said facial feature detector performs said mouth-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said mouth-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said mouth-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of a nostril region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a central second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an upper lip region in said subject face, said facial feature detector further identifying a third low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of a lower lip region in said subject face.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein said facial feature detector performs said mouth-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said mouth-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said mouth-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of a nostril region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of a closed-mouth region in said subject face.

28. The method of claim 23 wherein said facial feature detector creates an eye-area window around an approximate eye area in said subject face, said eye-area window including an eye and an eyebrow.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein said eye-area window is implemented with a width of “

M” and

a height of “

M”

where “

M”

is an approximate distance between eye areas in said subject face.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein said facial feature detector performs said eye-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said eye-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said eye-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eyebrow region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eye region in said subject face.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein said facial feature detector utilizes an eyebrow filter to detect an upper edge and a slope angle of said eyebrow from said subject face.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein said eyebrow filter is implemented to have a filter width of “

M” and

a filter height of “

M/4”

, where “

M”

is an approximate distance between two eyes of said subject face.

33. The method of claim 30 wherein said facial feature detector utilizes an iris filter to detect coordinates for an iris region in said eye-area of said subject face.

34. The method of claim 28 wherein said histogram exhibits only one low-amplitude point, said facial feature detector then identifying said one low-amplitude point as corresponding to said eye region of said subject face.

35. The method of claim 21 wherein a face recognition module performs a face recognition procedure for two faces by calculating absolute differences between corresponding facial feature parameters, said face recognition module next applying weighting values to said absolute differences to produce weighted differences, said face recognition module then calculating a final sum of said weighted differences, said face recognition module utilizing said final sum as a score to measure a similarity between said two faces, said facial parameters including a distance between irises in a subject face which is normalized and rescaled to a standard size, an averaged eyebrow angle from eyebrows of said subject face, a distance between corresponding eyebrows and irises of said subject face, and a distance between an eyeline connecting two irises of said subject face and a mouth from said subject face.

36. A method for effectively analyzing image data, comprising the steps of:

analyzing said image data with a facial feature detector to generate facial feature information, said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said facial feature detector performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said facial feature detector also separately performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information;

utilizing a feature filter to refine said facial feature information for a facial feature, said feature filter having a plurality of segments that collectively are shaped to represent said facial feature, said facial feature detector moving said feature filter over pixels of said image data to repeatedly calculate feature merit values from said pixels currently aligned with said feature filter, an optimal one of said feature merit values accurately locating said facial feature in said image data;

a face detector module performing an initial face detection procedure to convert said image data into a gray-scale format, said face detector module then generating approximate location information for a subject face in said image data, said facial feature detector performing a face rotation procedure upon said subject face in said image data to realign said subject face in a vertical alignment, said facial feature detector creating an eye-area window around an approximate eye area in said subject face, said eye-area window including an eye and an eyebrow, said facial feature detector performing said eye-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said eye-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said eye-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eyebrow region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eye region in said subject face, said facial feature detector determining a correct separator area between said first low-amplitude point and said second low-amplitude point by selecting a maximum separator merit value of separator area candidates according to a formula;

Merit Value=Separator Candidate Value−

10 (Eyebrow Value−

Eye Value);

and controlling said facial feature detector with a processor to thereby effectively analyze said image data.

37. A method for effectively analyzing image data, comprising the steps of:

analyzing said image data with a facial feature detector to generate facial feature information, said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said facial feature detector performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said facial feature detector also performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information;

utilizing a face detector module to perform an initial face detection procedure to convert said image data into a gray-scale format, said face detector module then generating approximate location information for a subject face in said image data, said facial feature detector performing a face rotation procedure upon said subject face in said image data to realign said subject face in a vertical alignment, said facial feature detector creating an eye-area window around an approximate eye area in said subject face, said eye-area window including an eye and an eyebrow, said facial feature detector performing said eye-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said eye-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said eye-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eyebrow region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eye region in said subject face, said facial feature detector utilizing an eyebrow filter to detect an upper edge and a slope angle of said eyebrow from said subject face, said eyebrow filter being implemented to have a filter width of “

M” and

a filter height of “

M/4”

, where “

M”

is an approximate distance between two eyes of said subject face, said facial feature detector moving said eyebrow filter, pixel by pixel, to different locations of said eyebrow region in said eye-area window, said facial feature detector, at each of said different locations, adding all pixel values in an upper portion of said eyebrow filter to produce an upper value, said facial feature detector also adding all pixel values in a lower portion of said eyebrow filter to produce a lower value, said facial feature detector then subtracting said lower value from said upper value to produce a local eyebrow value for each corresponding position of said eyebrow filter, said facial feature detector then selecting a maximum local eyebrow value to accurately detect a position and a slope angle of a corresponding eyebrow; and

controlling said facial feature detector with a processor to thereby effectively analyze said image.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein said facial feature detector tilts said eyebrow filter to calculate tilted local eyebrow values, said facial feature detector then selecting a maximum tilted local eyebrow value to accurately detect said slope angle of said eyebrow.

39. A method for effectively analyzing image data, comprising the steps of:

analyzing said image data with a facial feature detector to generate facial feature information, said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said facial feature detector performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said facial feature detector also performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information;

utilizing a face detector module to perform an initial face detection procedure to convert said image data into a gray-scale format, said face detector module then generating approximate location information for a subject face in said image data, said facial feature detector performing a face rotation procedure upon said subject face in said image data to realign said subject face in a vertical alignment, said facial feature detector creating an eye-area window around an approximate eye area in said subject face, said eye-area window including an eye and an eyebrow, said facial feature detector performing said eye-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said eye-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said eye-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eyebrow region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eye region in said subject face, said facial feature detector utilizing an iris filter to detect coordinates for an iris region in said eye-area of said subject face, said iris filter being implemented to include an iris area with an iris radius “

r”

that is approximately equal to 0.09×

“

M”

, where “

M”

is an approximate distance between eyes in said subject face, said iris filter also being implemented with a pupil area having a pupil radius that is approximately equal to “

r/2”

, where “

r”

is said iris radius, said iris filter further being implemented with a eye-white area having an eye-white radius that is approximately equal to “

1.5×

r”

, where “

r”

is said iris radius; and

controlling said facial feature detector with a processor to thereby effectively analyze said image data.

40. A method for effectively analyzing image data, comprising the steps of:

analyzing said image data with a facial feature detector to generate facial feature information, said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said facial feature detector performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said facial feature detector also performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information;

utilizing a face detector module to perform an initial face detection procedure to convert said image data into a gray-scale format, said face detector module then generating approximate location information for a subject face in said image data, said facial feature detector performing a face rotation procedure upon said subject face in said image data to realign said subject face in a vertical alignment, said facial feature detector creating an eye-area window around an approximate eye area in said subject face, said eye-area window including an eye and an eyebrow, said facial feature detector performing said eye-area vertical projection procedure by summing gray-scale values of pixels in each horizontal line of said eye-area window to produce a corresponding histogram which represents results of said eye-area vertical projection procedure, said facial feature detector identifying a first low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eyebrow region in said subject face, said facial feature detector also identifying a second low-amplitude point in said histogram as corresponding to pixels of an eye region in said subject face, said facial feature detector utilizing an iris filter to detect coordinates for an iris region in said eye-area of said subject face, said facial feature detector moving said iris filter, pixel by pixel, to different locations in an eye-area window around said eye area, said facial feature detector, at each of said different locations, generating a white-area value that is equal to a sum all pixel values in said eye-white area of said iris filter, said facial feature detector also generating an eyelid value that is equal to a sum all pixel values in an eyelid area of said iris filter, said facial feature detector further generating an iris value that is equal to a sum of all pixel values in said iris area, said facial feature detector then calculating an iris merit value at each of said different locations according to a formula;

Iris Merit Value=(2×

white-area value)−

(3×

eyelid value)−

(6×

iris value)

said facial feature detector then selecting a maximum iris merit value to accurately detect coordinates of said iris area; and

controlling said facial feature detector with a processor to thereby effectively analyze said image data.

41. A computer-readable medium comprising program instructions for effectively analyzing image data by performing the steps of:

analyzing said image data with a facial feature detector to generate facial feature information, said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said facial feature detector performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said facial feature detector also performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information;

utilizing a feature filter to refine said facial feature information for a facial feature, said feature filter having a plurality of segments that collectively are shaped to represent said facial feature, said facial feature detector moving said feature filter over pixels of said image data to repeatedly calculate feature merit values from said pixels currently aligned with said feature filter, said feature merit values being determined by calculating sums of pixel values corresponding with each of said segments and then calculating a weighted difference of said sums, an optimal one of said feature merit values accurately locating said facial feature in said image data; and

controlling said facial feature detector with a processor to thereby effectively analyze said image data.

42. A system for effectively analyzing image data, comprising:

means for analyzing said image data to generate facial feature information, said facial feature information said facial feature information including eye-area information and mouth-area information, said means for analyzing performing an eye-area vertical projection procedure for generating said eye-area information, said means for analyzing also performing a mouth-area vertical projection procedure for generating said mouth-area information;

means for refining said facial feature information for a facial feature, said means for refining having a plurality of segments that collectively are shaped to represent said facial feature, said means for analyzing moving said means for refining over pixels of said image data to repeatedly calculate feature merit values from said pixels currently aligned with said means for refining, said feature merit values being determined by calculating sums of pixel values corresponding with each of said segments and then calculating a weighted difference of said sums, an optimal one of said feature merit values accurately locating said facial feature in said image data; and

means for controlling said facial feature detector to thereby effectively analyze said image data.