Automatic facial feature extraction and 3D face modeling using two orthogonal views with application to 3D face recognition

We present a fully automated algorithm for facial feature extraction and 3D face modeling from a pair of orthogonal frontal and profile view images of a person's face taken by calibrated cameras. The algorithm starts by automatically extracting corresponding 2D landmark facial features from both view images, then compute their 3D coordinates. Further, we estimate the coordinates of the features that are hidden in the profile view based on the visible features extracted in the two orthogonal face images. The 3D coordinates of the selected feature points obtained from the images are used first to align, then to locally deform the corresponding facial vertices of the generic 3D model. Preliminary experiments to assess the applicability of the resulted models for face recognition show encouraging results.