Exploring the tradeoff between power and detection rate for a face detection algorithm

Human face detection plays an important role in many applications such as human computer interface, video surveillance, face recognition, and face image database management. Recently, most researches mainly focus on developing a high detection rate algorithm to improve the performance. Since a high performance face detection algorithm requires complicated framework, it results high energy consumption and hard to implement in portable devices whose battery lifes are always restricted. Therefore, how to develop a face detection algorithm with both promising detection rate and low power dissipation has become a crucial research topic. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of energy requirements in a wide range of the most used algorithms in the face detection program. The experimental results show the power dissipation and detection rate of seven different cases. Base on the results, we conclude and discuss various opportunities for realizing energy-efficient implementations of a face detection program.