3D Face Recognition Using Multiview Keypoint Matching

A novel algorithm for 3D face recognition based point cloud rotations, multiple projections, and voted keypoint matching is proposed and evaluated. The basic idea is to rotate each 3D point cloud representing an individual's face around the x, y or z axes, iteratively projecting the 3D points onto multiple 2.5D images at each step of the rotation. Labeled keypoints are then extracted from the resulting collection of 2.5D images, and this much smaller set of keypoints replaces the original face scan and its projections in the face database. Unknown test faces are recognized firstly by performing the same multiview keypoint extraction technique, and secondly, the application of a new weighted keypoint matching algorithm. In an extensive evaluation using the GavabDB 3D face recognition dataset (61 subjects, 9 scans per subject), our method achieves up to 95% recognition accuracy for faces with neutral expressions only, and over 90% accuracy for face recognition where expressions (such as a smile or a strong laugh) and random face-occluding gestures are permitted.