FE-Adapter: Adapting Image-Based Emotion Classifiers to Videos

Utilizing large pre-trained models for specific tasks has yielded impressive results. However, fully fine-tuning these increasingly large models is becoming prohibitively resource-intensive. This has led to a focus on more parameter-efficient transfer learning, primarily within the same modality. But this approach has limitations, particularly in video understanding where suitable pre-trained models are less common. Addressing this, our study introduces a novel cross-modality transfer learning approach from images to videos, which we call parameter-efficient image-to-video transfer learning. We present the Facial-Emotion Adapter (FE-Adapter), designed for efficient fine-tuning in video tasks. This adapter allows pre-trained image models, which traditionally lack temporal processing capabilities, to analyze dynamic video content efficiently. Notably, it uses about 15 times fewer parameters than previous methods, while improving accuracy. Our experiments in video emotion recognition demonstrate that the FE-Adapter can match or even surpass existing fine-tuning and video emotion models in both performance and efficiency. This breakthrough highlights the potential for cross-modality approaches in enhancing the capabilities of AI models, particularly in fields like video emotion analysis where the demand for efficiency and accuracy is constantly rising.