Patent ID: 7356447

Claim:
A computer-implemented facial image processing method comprising: illuminating a subject's head with one or more light sources that are selected to suppress specular reflection; capturing digital images from a plurality of positions wound the subject's head while the subject's head is illuminated, each of the digital images representing the subject's head at an angle from which the digital image is captured at one of the plurality of positions; computing a surface normal to form a three-dimensional surface for each of the digital images; computing an albedo map based on the computed three-dimensional surface for each of the digital images, the albedo map each providing a reflectance for each point of the three-dimensional surface that represents the subject's head; and combining two or more of the computed albedo maps for the digital images to provide a single albedo map for the subject's head, the combining comprising at least combining two or more three-dimensional surfaces to form a complete three-dimensional surface and combining two or more albedo maps for the corresponding three-dimensional surfaces to form a complete albedo map for the complete three-dimensional surface of the subject's head.