Head roll estimation using horizontal energy maximization

Abstract

Head Pose estimation is often a necessary step for many applications using human face, for example in human-computer interaction systems, in face recognition or in face tracking. Here we present a new method to estimate face roll by maximizing a horizontal global energy. The main idea is face salient elements such as nose basis, eyes and mouth have an approximate horizontal direction. According to roll orientation, several local maximums are extracted. A further step of validation using a score computed on relative positions, sizes, and patterns of eyes, nose and mouth allow choosing one of the local maximums. This method is evaluated on BioID and Color Feret databases and achieves roll estimation with a mean absolute error of approximately 4 deg.