Real-time face tracking using discriminator technique on standard PC hardware

We show here that it is possible to track a face or an object in real-time using usual PC hardware, even if the object quickly changes its rotation and scale. An algorithm based on the discriminator technique (used earlier in analogue signal processing) was developed. Tracking control was realized by a scale factor and roll angle discriminator control loops and convolution based 2D cross-correlation. Experiments revealed that this method enables real-time scale and rotation invariant tracking control of an object or face template in a wide scale range and provides robustness against high frequency camera vibrations, from which cameras on mobile robots suffer.