An study on ear detection and its applications to face detection

Abstract

OpenCV includes different object detectors based on the Viola-Jones framework. Most of them are specialized to deal with the frontal face pattern and its inner elements: eyes, nose, and mouth. In this paper, we focus on the ear pattern detection, particularly when a head profile or almost profile view is present in the image. We aim at creating real-time ear detectors based on the general object detection framework provided with OpenCV. After training classifiers to detect left ears, right ears, and ears in general, the performance achieved is valid to be used to feed not only a head pose estimation system but also other applications such as those based on ear biometrics. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.