Facial Feature Based Method For Real Time Face Detection And Tracking I-CURSOR

This project aims to present an application that is able of replacing the traditional mouse with the human face as a new way to interact with the computer. Facial features (nose tip and eyes) are detected and tracked in real-time to use their actions as mouse events. In our work we were trying to compensate people who have hands disabilities that prevent them from using the mouse by designing an application that uses facial features (nose tip and eyes) to interact with the computer. It can be applied to a wide range of face scales. Our basic strategy for detection is fast extraction of face candidates with a Six-Segmented Rectangular (SSR) filter and face verification by a support vector machine[4][5]. A motion cue is used in a simple way to avoid picking up false candidates in the background. In face tracking, the patterns of between-the eyes are tracked with updating template matching. Introduction In the past few years high technology has become more progressed, and less expensive. With the availability of high speed processors and inexpensive webcams, more and more people have become interested in real-time applications that involve image processing. One of the promising fields in artificial intelligence is Human Computer Interface which aims to use human features (e.g. face, hands) to interact with the computer. One way to achieve that is to capture the desired feature with a webcam and monitor its action in order to translate it to some events that communicate with the computer. In our work we were trying to compensate people who have hands disabilities that prevent them from using the mouse by designing an application that uses facial features (nose tip and eyes) to interact with the computer. The nose tip was selected as the pointing device; the reason behind that decision is the location and shape of the nose; as it is located in the middle of the face it is more comfortable to use it as the feature that moves the mouse pointer and defines its coordinates, not to mention that it is located on the axis that the face rotates about, so it basically does not change its distinctive convex shape which makes it easier to track as the face moves. Eyes were used to simulate mouse clicks, so the user can fire their events as he blinks. While different devices were used in HCI (e.g. infrared cameras, sensors, microphones) we used an off-the-shelf webcam that affords a moderate resolution and frame rate as the capturing device in order to make the ability of using the program affordable for all individuals. We will try to present an algorithm that distinguishes true eye blinks from involuntary ones, detects and tracks the desired facial features precisely, and fast enough to be applied in real-time. We have aimed to design an application that uses facial features (nose tip and eyes) to interact with the computer. In this application, Facial features (nose tip and eyes) are detected and tracked in real-time to use their actions as mouse events. The coordinates and movement of the nose tip in the live video feed are translated to become the coordinates and movement of the mouse pointer on the user’s screen. The left/right eye blinks fire left/right mouse click events. The only external device that the user needs is a webcam that feeds the program with the video stream. In our work we are trying to compensate people who have hand disabilities that prevent them from using the mouse. 2. Related Work Most previous approaches to facial feature tracking utilize skin tone based segmentation from single camera exclusively (Yang & Waibel, 1996; Wu et al., 1999; Hsu et al., 2002; Terrillon & Akamatsu, 1999; Chai & Ngan, 1999). However, color information is very sensitive to lighting conditions, and it is very difficult to adapt the skin tone model to a dynamically changing environment in real-time Kawato and Tetsutani (2004) proposed a mono Sunita Barve, Dhaval Dholakiya, Shashank Gupta, Dhananjay Dhatrak / International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA) ISSN: 2248-9622 www.ijera. com Vol. 2, Issue 2,Mar-Apr 2012, pp.1406-141