FPGA Architecture for Facial-Features and Components Extraction

Abstract

Several methods for detecting the face and extracting the facial features and components exist in the literature. These methods are different in their complexity, performance, type and nature of the images and the targeted application. The facial features and components are used in security applications, robotics and assistance for the disabled. We use these components and characteristics to determine the state of alertness and fatigue for medical diagnoses. In this work we use plain color background images whose color is different from the skin and which contain a single face. We are interested in FPGA implementation of this application. This implementation must meet two constraints, which are the execution time and the FPGA resources. We have selected and have associated a face detection algorithm based on the skin detection (using the RGB space) with a facial-feature extraction algorithm based on tracking the gradient and the geometric model.