Three Dimensional Face Recognition Using Iso-Geodesic and Iso-Depth Curves

In this paper a new framework for personal identity verification using 3-D geometry of the face is introduced. Initially, 3-D facial surfaces are represented by curves extracted from facial surfaces (facial curves). Two alternative facial curves are examined in this research: iso-depth and iso-geodesic curves. Iso-depth curves are produced by intersecting a facial surface with parallel planes perpendicular to the direction of gaze, at different depths from the nose tip. An Iso-geodesic curve is defined to be the locus of all points on the facial surface having the same geodesic distance from a given facial landmark (e.g. the nose tip). Once the facial curves are extracted, their characteristics are encoded by several features like the shape descriptors or polar Euclidean distances from the origin (nose tip). The final step is to verify or disapprove requests from users claiming the identity of registered individuals (gallery members) by comparing their features using Euclidean distance classifier or support vector machine (SVM). The performance results of the identity verification experiments are reported and a comparison is made between the two alternative curve-based facial surface representations.