Hierarchical morphable models

This paper presents a new technique for modelling object classes (such as faces) and matching the model to novel images from the object class. The technique can be used for a variety of image analysis applications including face recognition, object verification and facial expression analysis. The model, called a hierarchical morphable model, is "learned" from example images (partioned into components) and their correspondences. This is an extension to the work on morphable models described in previous papers. Hierarchical morphable models are shown to find good matches to novel face images and are also robust to partial occlusion.