Facial expression recognition apparatus and method, and image capturing apparatus
First Claim
1. A facial expression recognition apparatus, comprising:
- an image input unit configured to sequentially input images;
a face detection unit configured to detect faces in images obtained by the image input unit;
a start determination unit configured to determine whether to start facial expression determination based on facial image information of each of the faces detected by the face detection unit;
a first extraction unit configured to extract first feature information from the facial image information when the start determination unit determines that facial expression determination should be started based on the facial image information;
a second extraction unit configured to extract second feature information from facial image information of a face detected by the face detection unit after the start determination unit determines that the facial expression determination should be started; and
a facial expression determination unit configured to determine a facial expression of the detected face corresponding to the second feature information based on the first and second feature information,wherein at least the facial expression determination unit is implemented by a processor, andwherein the start determination unit determines that facial expression determination should be started when the variation of the features obtained from the facial image information detected in a series of images over a predetermined number of frames or a predetermined time stays within a prescribed range.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A facial expression recognition apparatus includes an image input unit configured to sequentially input images, a face detection unit configured to detect faces in images obtained by the image input unit, and a start determination unit configured to determine whether to start facial expression determination based on facial image information detected by the face detection unit. When the start determination unit determines that facial expression determination should be started, an acquisition unit acquires reference feature information based on the facial image information detected by the face detection unit and a facial expression determination unit extracts feature information from the facial image information detected by the face detection unit and determines facial expressions of the detected faces based on the extracted feature information and the reference feature information.
32 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A facial expression recognition apparatus, comprising:
-
an image input unit configured to sequentially input images; a face detection unit configured to detect faces in images obtained by the image input unit; a start determination unit configured to determine whether to start facial expression determination based on facial image information of each of the faces detected by the face detection unit; a first extraction unit configured to extract first feature information from the facial image information when the start determination unit determines that facial expression determination should be started based on the facial image information; a second extraction unit configured to extract second feature information from facial image information of a face detected by the face detection unit after the start determination unit determines that the facial expression determination should be started; and a facial expression determination unit configured to determine a facial expression of the detected face corresponding to the second feature information based on the first and second feature information, wherein at least the facial expression determination unit is implemented by a processor, and wherein the start determination unit determines that facial expression determination should be started when the variation of the features obtained from the facial image information detected in a series of images over a predetermined number of frames or a predetermined time stays within a prescribed range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A facial expression recognition method, comprising the steps of:
-
image input, which involves sequentially inputting images; face detection, which involves detecting faces in images obtained in the image input step; start determination, which involves determining whether to start facial expression determination based on facial image information of each of the faces detected in the face detection step; a first extraction, which involves extracting first feature information from the facial image information when the start determination step determines that facial expression determination should be started based on the facial image information; a second extraction, which involves extracting second feature information from facial image information of a face detected in the face detection step after the start determination step determines that the facial expression determination should be started; and facial expression determination, which involves determining facial expression of the detected face corresponding to the second feature information based on the first and second feature information, wherein the start determination step determines that facial expression determination should be started when the variation of the features obtained from the facial image information detected in a series of images over a predetermined number of frames or a predetermined time stays within a prescribed range. - View Dependent Claims (16)
-
Specification