A method for re-illuminating faces from a single image

Abstract

In this paper we propose a local-shape based method for correcting shape-from-shading information for raw surface height recovery of faces aiming to generate differently illuminated versions of a face. The underpinning idea comes from the observation that subtle changes in the elements of a gradient field can cause notable changes in its integrated surface. A new gradient field is calculated by modifying its orientations in accordance with critical points on the surface and local shape indicators. A raw height map is then calculated by integrating such field. Experiments show that altering the directions of a surface normal field of a face can be enough to generate differently illuminated fixed-pose versions of a face from a single image. © Springer-Verlag 2004.