Patent ID: 7308133

Claim:
A method for classifying facial image data, the method comprising the steps of: a) training a neural network classifier device for recognizing one or more facial images and obtaining corresponding learned models of the facial images used for training; b) inputting a vector including data representing a portion of an unknown facial image to be recognized into said classifier; c) classifying said portion of said unknown facial image according to a classification method at each iteration, comparing a portion of the unknown image against a corresponding portion of the learned model image for each class, and obtaining a confidence score for each classified portion; d) repeating step b) and c) using a different portion of said unknown facial image at each iteration; and, e) identifying a single class result from said different portions input to said classifier, applying a rule to said confidence scores to obtain said single class result, said confidence score is a probability measure that a current portion of an unknown facial image is identified with a class, said applied rule including obtaining class having majority of class labels determined for each unknown facial image.