Patent ID: 7697736

Claim:
A face detection method using a level-set method, comprising: laying, under control of a processor, a first initial shape model, which has a front viewpoint, over a face image; evolving shape curves of the first initial shape model laid over the face image using the level-set method; detecting first through M-th neighboring boundary points that neighbor first through M-th initial boundary points of the first initial shape model, and that neighbor the evolved shape curves, M being a positive integer larger than 1; laying a modified shape model rendered using the detected first through M-th neighboring boundary points over the face image; detecting a rotation angle of the modified shape model; determining whether the detected rotation angle of the modified shape model is within a predetermined angle range; and selecting one of a second initial shape model, which is rotated to the left, or a third initial shape model, which is rotated to the right, according to the detected rotation angle, and laying the selected initial shape model over the face image, and returning to the detecting the first through M-th neighboring boundary points, when the detected rotation angle of the modified shape model is outside the predetermined angle range.