The IMM Face Database
An Annotated Dataset of 240 Face Images
Michael M. Nordstrøm, Mads Larsen, Janusz Sierakowski, and Mikkel B. Stegmann∗
Informatics and Mathematical Modelling, Technical University of Denmark
Richard Petersens Plads, Building 321, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
13th May 2004
(Stevie Wonders 54th birthday)

Abstract
This note describes a dataset consisting of 240 annotated monocular images of 40 different
human faces. Points of correspondence are placed on each image so the dataset can be readily
used for building statistical models of shape. Format specifications and terms of use are also givenin this note.
Keywords: annotated image dataset, face images, statistical models of shape1

Data Description

The IMM Face Database comprises 240 still images of 40 different human faces, all without glasses.
The gender distribution is 7 females and 33 males. Images were acquired in January 2001 using
a 640×480 JPEG format with a Sony DV video camera, DCR-TRV900E PAL. The following
facial structures were manually annotated using 58 landmarks: eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth andjaw. A total of seven point paths were used; three closed and four open. All annotations wereformatted in ASF, which is described in Appendix A. Refer to Figure 1 for an example annotation.
The file names are formatted as <person number>-<image type><gender>.
• Image types
1 Full frontal face, neutral expression, diffuse light.
2 Full frontal face, ”happy” expression, diffuse light.
3 Face rotated approx. 30 degrees to the person’s right, neutral expression, diffuse light.
4 Face rotated approx. 30 degrees to the person’s left, neutral expression, diffuse light.
5 Full frontal face, neutral expression, spot light added at the person’s left side.
6 Full frontal face, ”joker image” (arbitrary expression), diffuse light.
• Genderf female
m male∗ Corresponding author: mbs@imm.dtu.dk1

Figure 1: Annotated face image.
Important notice: We don’t quite know how it happend, but it appears as if gnomes haveinfected our database and converted person 02, 03, and 04 to grey-scale. Sorry.
The publications [3] and [2] contain detailed analyses of a subset of the database containing
37 images (full frontal, neutral expression, colour). See also [1] for an interactive demonstrationof the modes of variation discovered in a similar subset.

2Terms of Use

The dataset can be freely used for education and research. The only reqiurement is that a reference
to this note or the publication below must be given.
M. B. Stegmann, B. K. Ersbøll, and R. Larsen. FAME – a flexible appearance modelling
environment. IEEE Trans. on Medical Imaging, 22(10):1319–1331, 2003
@ARTICLE{Stegmann2003tmi,
author= "M. B. Stegmann and B. K. Ersb{\o}ll and R. Larsen",title= "{FAME} -- A Flexible Appearance Modelling Environment",
year= "2003",
pages= "1319-1331",
journal= "IEEE Trans. on Medical Imaging",
volume= "22",number= "10",publisher= "IEEE"}

References[1] M. B. Stegmann. The AAM Explorer, December 2001. Software that can be downloaded fromhttp://www.imm.dtu.dk/~aam/aamexplorer/.
[2] M. B. Stegmann. Analysis and segmentation of face images using point annotations and linear
subspace techniques. Technical Report IMM-REP-2002-22, Informatics and Mathematical
Modelling, Technical University of Denmark, DTU, aug 2002.
[3] M. B. Stegmann, B. K. Ersbøll, and R. Larsen. FAME – a flexible appearance modelling
environment. IEEE Trans. on Medical Imaging, 22(10):1319–1331, 2003.

2

A

ASF – AAM Shape Format Specification

An ASF file is structured as a set of lines separated by a CR character. Anywhere in the file,comments can be added by starting a line with the ’#’ character. Comment lines and empty lines
are discarded prior to parsing. The layout of an ASF file is as follows:• Line 1 contains the total number of points, n, in the shape.
• Line 2 to n+1 contains the point information (one line per point) such as the point location,type, connectivity etc., see below. Hence, quick and simple access is preferred over datacompactness.
• Line n+2 contains the host image, i.e. the filename of the image where the annotation isdefined.
The formal point definition is:point := <path#> <type> <x-pos> <y-pos> <point#> <connects from> <connects to><path#> The path that the point belongs to. Points from different paths must not be interchanged (in theline order).
<type> A bitmapped field that defines the type of point:• Bit 1: Outer edge point/Inside point• Bit 2: Original annotated point/Artificial point• Bit 3: Closed path point/Open path point• Bit 4: Non-hole/Hole point
Remaining bits should be set to zero. An inside artificial point which is a part of an closed hole, has thus
the type: (1<<1) + (1<<2) + (1<<4) = 1 + 2 + 4 = 7.
<x-pos> The relative x-position of the point. Obtained by dividing image coordinates in the range [0;image width-1]
by the image width (due to strange historic reasons...). Thus, pixel x = 47 (the 48th pixel) in a 256 pixel
wide image has the relative position 47/256 = 0.18359375.
<y-pos> The relative y-position of the point. Obtained by dividing image coordinates in the range [0;image height-1]
by the image height (due to strange historic reasons...). Thus, pixel y = 47 (the 48th pixel) in a 256
pixel tall image has the relative position 47/256 = 0.18359375.
<point#> The point number. First point is zero. This is merely a service to the human reader since theline at where the point occurs implicitly gives the real point number.
<connects from> The previous point on this path. If none <connects from> == <point#> can be used.
<connects to> The next point on this path. If none <connects to> == <point#> can be used.

Further, the following format rules apply:• Fields in a point specification are separated by spaces or tabs.
• Path points are assumed to be defined clockwise. That is; the outside normal is defined to
be on left of the point in the clockwise direction. Holes are thus defined counter-clockwise.
• Points are defined in the fourth quadrant. Hence, the upper left corner pixel is (0,0).
• Isolated points are signaled using <connects from> == <connects to> == <point#>.
• A shape must have at least one outer edge. If the outer edge is open, the convex hull should
determine the interior of the shape.

3

Example ASF file
<BOF>#########################################################################AAM Shape File - written: Monday May 08 - 2000 [15:22]########################################################################## number of model points#83## model points## format: <path#> <type> <x rel.> <y rel.> <point#> <connects from> <connects to>#
0 0 0.07690192 0.44500541 0 82 1
0 0 0.09916206 0.42914406 1 0 2
0 0 0.12925033 0.39573063 2 1 3...
00000
00.07579006
0.06128729
0.05858913

0.52910086
0.49762829
0.46610570

80818279
80
81

81
82
0

#
# host image#F1011flb.bmp<EOF>

4