Face Recognition: the Problem of Compensating for Changes in Illumination Direction

A face recognition system must recognize a face from a novel image despite the variations between images of the same face. A common approach to overcoming image variations because of changes in the illumination conditions is to use image representations that are relatively insensitive to these variations. Examples of such representations are edge maps, image intensity derivatives, and images convolved with 2D Gabor-like lters. Here we present an empirical study that evaluates the sensitivity of these representations to changes in illumination, as well as viewpoint and facial expression. Our ndings indicated that none of the representations considered is su cient by itself to overcome image variations because of a change in the direction of illumination. Similar results were obtained for changes due to viewpoint and expression. Image representations that emphasized the horizontal features were found to be less sensitive to changes in the direction of illumination. However, systems base...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1994
• Where: ECCV
• Authors: Yael Moses, Yael Adini, Shimon Ullman
• Keywords: Computer Vision, ECCV 1994, Face Recognition, Illumination Conditions, Image Intensity Derivatives, Image Representations, Overcoming Image Variations