Face recognition refers to a computer application that facilitates the identification and verification of an individual from a video or digital image. It identifies a person by comparing his or her facial features with images from a facial database. Face recognition is most widely used as a security tool in law enforcement departments, custom offices, and casinos. It is a form of biometrics, and it is comparable to iris and fingerprint recognition.
The first major attempt at creating a face recognition system was made by Finnish researcher Teuvo Kohonen in the early 1980s. He developed a system that made use of a neural net to identify aligned and normalized images of faces, but his system was not precise enough to make face recognition a success. In 1989, Kirby and Sirovich made use of algebraic manipulation to design a more accurate face recognition system, and about two years later, Turk and Pentland developed a reliable system that could achieve real-time identification of faces. Face recognition systems were commercially available in the 1990s.
Research Groups and Papers
- Face Recognition Research Groups: A list of links to websites of face recognition research groups from different countries.
- Top Face Recognition Research Institutions: Science Watch’s top 20 institutions in the field of face recognition research.
- Face Recognition Grand Challenge: An organization that is dedicated to the research and development of new face recognition technology.
- Face Recognition Papers: An extensive list of papers that provide comprehensive information on face recognition.
- Research Project on Face Recognition: A project that explores various aspects of face cognition technology.
- Face Recognition Research: A paper that discusses how reconfigurable platforms contribute to the robustness of facial recognition
Internet Resources
- Resources for Face Recognition: Extensive list of websites that contain information on face recognition and other biometrics.
- Face Recognition Resource Page: A resource page with links to research papers, reference sources, and database for face recognition.
- Some Face Detection Resources: Several links to websites with computer codes for building a face recognition system.
- Face Detection Links and Databases: Web resources for face recognition information and databases.
- Face Recognition Links: A selection of links to information about face recognition.
- Face Recognition Database and Tutorial: A database of face recognition images as well as tutorial on how to use it.
- Database for Face Recognition: A database with a collection of face images.
Freeware
- Face Recognition Freeware: A list of free face recognition software.
- Face Recognition System 2.1: Free download of Face Recognition System 2.1.
- O2Face 3.1.0.2: Free face recognition software from O2Micro.
- Face Tracking Tool: A face tracking tool from Carnegie Mellon University.
- DCT for Face Identification 1.0: Freeware that performs face identification based on Discrete Cosine Transforms.
Commercial Products
- Face Recognition ActiveX DLL: A powerful face recognition tool from United Research Labs.
- VeriLook Standard and Extended SDK: Software that performs efficient and reliable face recognition tasks.
- Asset labels: Identification of computer equipment used in laboratories and office.
- FaceCode 2.0: Review and download of face recognition software FaceCode 2.0.
- FaceGate 2.15: Software that enables computer users to log in by face recognition.
- Luxand FaceSDK: Face recognition software that is capable of performing accurate facial feature detection.