Individual Facial Features Research Articles

Нolistic and Analytic Processing of Facial Expressions: A Method of Multidimentional Scaling

Contemporary scientific literature is controversial about the two basic mechanisms that play a significant role in the identification and discrimination of facial expressions, that is, the analytic process (perceiving individual facial features) and the holistic process (perceiving the face as a Gestalt). Despite the large number of studies, the question of their relative contributions into the perception of facial expressions remains open. In the present study, we investigated the interaction of the analytic and holistic processing simultaneously using the methods of composite and inverted faces in the task of assessing the expression similarity. To achieve this goal, the method of multidimensional scaling was used to enable the construction of a subjective space of expression similarities and then to analyze the clustering of expressions under up-right and inverted exposure conditions. The results showed that: 1. In up-right conditions of face presentations holistic processing plays a more important role; 2. Under the inverted conditions, the role of analytic processing is increased that is manifested in a change of expression clustering in the subjective space of expression similarities; 3. The method of multidimensional scaling is productive for investigating the interaction of analytic and holistic encoding mechanisms of facial expressions; 4. Sharing methods of the composite and inverted faces is an effective tool for changing the impact of analytic and holistic processes in assessing expression similarities.

EXPLORING ANALYTICAL AND HOLISTIC PROCESSING IN FACIAL EXPRESSION RECOGNITION

Background. The study explores two main processes of perception of facial expression: analytical (perception based on individual facial features) and holistic (holistic and non-additive perception of all features). The relative contribution of each process to facial expression recognition is still an open question. Objective. To identify the role of holistic and analytical mechanisms in the process of facial expression recognition. Methods. A method was developed and tested for studying analytical and holistic processes in the task of evaluating subjective differences of expressions, using composite and inverted facial images. A distinctive feature of the work is the use of a multidimensional scaling method, by which a judgment of the contribution of holistic and analytical processes to the perception of facial expressions is based on the analysis of the subjective space of the similarity of expressions obtained when presenting upright and inverted faces. Results. It was shown, first, that when perceiving upright faces, a characteristic clustering of expressions is observed in the subjective space of similarities of expression, which we interpret as a predominance of holistic processes; second, by inversion of the face, there is a change in the spatial configuration of expressions that may reflect a strengthening of analytical processes; in general, the method of multidimensional scaling has proven its effectiveness in solving the problem of the relation between holistic and analytical processes in recognition of facial expressions. Conclusion. The analysis of subjective spaces of the similarity of emotional faces is productive for the study of the ratio of analytical and holistic processes in the recognition of facial expressions.

Multidimensional Neural Selectivity in the Primate Amygdala.

The amygdala contributes to multiple functions including attention allocation, sensory processing, decision-making, and the elaboration of emotional behaviors. The diversity of functions attributed to the amygdala is reflected in the response selectivity of its component neurons. Previous work claimed that subsets of neurons differentiate between broad categories of stimuli (e.g., objects vs faces, rewards vs punishment), while other subsets are narrowly specialized to respond to individual faces or facial features (e.g., eyes). Here we explored the extent to which the same neurons contribute to more than one neural subpopulation in a task that activated multiple functions of the amygdala. The subjects (Macaca mulatta) watched videos depicting conspecifics or inanimate objects, and learned by trial and error to choose the individuals or objects associated with the highest rewards. We found that the same neurons responded selectively to two or more of the following task events or stimulus features: (1) alerting, task-related stimuli (fixation icon, video start, and video end); (2) reward magnitude; (3) stimulus categories (social vs nonsocial); and (4) stimulus-unique features (faces, eyes). A disproportionate number of neurons showed selectivity for all of the examined stimulus features and task events. These results suggest that neurons that appear specialized and uniquely tuned to specific stimuli (e.g., face cells, eye cells) are likely to respond to multiple other types of stimuli or behavioral events, if/when these become behaviorally relevant in the context of a complex task. This multidimensional selectivity supports a flexible, context-dependent evaluation of inputs and subsequent decision making based on the activity of the same neural ensemble.

Biometric Authentication System Using Face Geometry

This seminar paper deals with biometric authentication, using human facial geometry as the login verification parameter. Biometric is the measurement and statistical analysis of human's unique physical and behavioral characteristics by mapping face geometry, fingerprints, iris, and voice. The aim of this seminar paper is to develop a functional Biometric Authentication System Using Face Geometry as the authentication method. Facial Geometry Authentication is a category of biometric technology that maps an individual's facial features mathematically and stores the data as face-prints in a database. Meanwhile the objective of this paper is to improve data access security, enhance identification accuracy, and contribute to the improvement of the existing facial recognition systems, focusing mainly on increasing its accuracy performance. On the other hand, hacking into users’ privacy, loss of confidential information, and high running costs, among others geared the motivation to develop a biometric authentication system using face geometry. Furthermore, the software engineering methodology adopted in this seminar paper is the Structural System Analysis and Design Methodology (SSADM). The software is developed in Visual C-sharp, and the database in SQL Server 2012; using Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 as the integrated development environment. Besides, OpenCV 2.4.8 library is used for image processing, image mapping, and computer vision. The expected result of this seminar paper include: improved user data security, and increased efficiency in facial detection/recognition.

Facial features and recognition memory: Eye‐movement study on the encoding and retrieval of unfamiliar child faces in children and adults

AbstractThis study examined eye movements to unfamiliar child faces as a function of memory in children and adults. Young adults (n = 30) and 7‐ to 11‐year‐old children (n = 30) performed a recognition memory task with neutral child faces. At encoding, fixating on internal features, especially the eye region, was associated with subsequently forgetting the face. During retrieval, children and adults fixated on internal features and the nose of correctly recognized faces more than novel faces. However, age‐related differences were present in fixations to individual facial features. Adults viewed the eye region of correctly recognized faces more than novel faces, whereas children's gaze behavior of the eye region did not differ as a function of viewing history. This finding suggests an increase in the reliance on the eye region, which provides critical information for social communication, for face recognition from middle childhood to young adulthood.Highlights Encoding of external features supports face recognition Children and adults fixate less on external features of previously viewed than novel faces Adults, but not children, view the eye region of previously viewed faces more than novel faces

B-02 Neuropsychological Deficits Following Right Hemisphere Cerebrovascular Accidents in a Patient with Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis C, and Polysubstance Abuse

Abstract Objective In right hemisphere cerebrovascular accident (CVA), expected deficits might include inattention syndromes, visuospatial impairment, or neglect. This case study adds to the literature by presenting neuropsychological data from a patient with a complex medical history who experienced two right hemisphere CVAs. The aim is to demonstrate that neuropsychological deficits following CVA may not be as expected in patients with comorbidities, and to highlight the importance of neuropsychological assessment in such cases. Method The patient is a 69-year-old, right-handed, African American man who presented with reading and memory difficulties, problems recognizing faces, and vision impairment following right occipital and temporoparietal ischemic CVAs. Comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation was conducted. Formal measures were utilized, but the examiners were also required to devise appropriate bedside measures. Results The patient had difficulty recognizing his caregiver’s face. He could not identify facial expressions made by examiners, but commented on individual facial features. Design copies were distorted/fragmented, and he evidenced difficulty integrating visual components into a whole. He also demonstrated spelling and verbal memory impairment (BDAE Oral Spelling raw = 0; HVLT-R recall and recognition < 1st percentile). Full results are included in a supplemental data table. Conclusions Results were strongly suggestive of simultanagnosia, though this disorder typically results from bilateral parietal-occipital lesions. Additionally, the neuropsychological impairments noted extended beyond those typical of right hemisphere CVA, likely related to the patient’s history of multiple comorbidities (e.g., infectious disease, polysubstance abuse). This case highlights the importance of neuropsychological assessment in the care of medically complex patients, and the unique ability of neuropsychologists to conduct such evaluations.

Gender classification based on isolated facial features and foggy faces using jointly trained deep convolutional neural network

Gender classification, a two-class problem (male or female), has been the subject of extensive research recently and gained a lot of attention due to its varied set of applications. The proposed work relies on individual facial features to train a convolutional neural network (CNN) for gender classification. In contrast with previously reported results that assume the facial features are independent, we consider the facial features as correlated features by training a single CNN that jointly learns from all facial features. In terms of accuracy, our results either outperform, or are on par with, other gender classification techniques applied to three different datasets namely specs on faces, groups, and face recognition technology. In terms of performance, the proposed CNN has significantly fewer parameters as compared with other techniques reported in the literature. Our learnable parameters are fewer than those required in techniques reported in recent work, which enables them to make the network less sensitive to over-fitting and easier to train than techniques that use different CNNs for each facial feature as reported in the literature.

Integration of function, aesthetics and patients’ personal preferences in the prosthetic treatment planning

Abstract Introduction Optimal aesthetic results require suitable smile design that fulfils patient’s expectations. Psychological importance of teeth appearance is clear and often discussed in relation to the success of prosthetic treatment. The objective of this article was to present methodology for creating customized smile design using the Visagismile concept and evaluate aesthetic satisfaction with prosthetic treatment. Case report A 52-year-old female patient required complete esthetical dental mouth reconstruction. Digital planning software (Visagismile) provided dentists and technicians a 2D preview of the final design that relates facial perception and personality of the patient. The latest innovation of used software in addition to documents that dentists send for the Visagismile application is that they need to send an intraoral 3D scan of the patients mouth (with any scanner) and define the length and position of incisal edges of the central incisors. This information as a STL file is sent to new Visagismile/REBEL center that is actually a digital lab, that converts 2D designs created by the Visagismile concept into 3D and create a digital wax up immediately. Conclusions Visagismile concept supports both dentist and patient in deciding the aesthetics of the prosthetic restoration. The total coefficient of the assessment of patients for the final aesthetic result was highly satisfactory. Using the proposed methodology, a smile design corresponding to individual facial features, temperament and personal preferences of the patient can be reproduced.

Fast Deep Convolutional Face Detection in the Wild Exploiting Hard Sample Mining

Face detection constitutes a key visual information analysis task in Machine Learning. The rise of Big Data has resulted in the accumulation of a massive volume of visual data which requires proper and fast analysis. Deep Learning methods are powerful approaches towards this task as training with large amounts of data exhibiting high variability has been shown to significantly enhance their effectiveness, but often requires expensive computations and leads to models of high complexity. When the objective is to analyze visual content in massive datasets, the complexity of the model becomes crucial to the success of the model. In this paper, a lightweight deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is introduced for the purpose of face detection, designed with a view to minimize training and testing time, and outperforms previously published deep convolutional networks in this task, in terms of both effectiveness and efficiency. To train this lightweight deep network without compromising its efficiency, a new training method of progressive positive and hard negative sample mining is introduced and shown to drastically improve training speed and accuracy. Additionally, a separate deep network was trained to detect individual facial features and a model that combines the outputs of the two networks was created and evaluated. Both methods are capable of detecting faces under severe occlusion and unconstrained pose variation and meet the difficulties of large scale real-world, real-time face detection, and are suitable for deployment even in mobile environments such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

Facial emotion recognition, face scan paths, and face perception in children with neurofibromatosis type 1.

This study aimed to investigate face scan paths and face perception abilities in children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) and how these might relate to emotion recognition abilities in this population. The authors investigated facial emotion recognition, face scan paths, and face perception in 29 children with NF1 compared to 29 chronological age-matched typically developing controls. Correlations between facial emotion recognition, face scan paths, and face perception in children with NF1 were examined. Children with NF1 displayed significantly poorer recognition of fearful expressions compared to controls, as well as a nonsignificant trend toward poorer recognition of anger. Although there was no significant difference between groups in time spent viewing individual core facial features (eyes, nose, mouth, and nonfeature regions), children with NF1 spent significantly less time than controls viewing the face as a whole. Children with NF1 also displayed significantly poorer face perception abilities than typically developing controls. Facial emotion recognition deficits were not significantly associated with aberrant face scan paths or face perception abilities in the NF1 group. These results suggest that impairments in the perception, identification, and interpretation of information from faces are important aspects of the social-cognitive phenotype of NF1. (PsycINFO Database Record

Neurophysiological Correlates of Featural and Spacing Processing for Face and Non-face Stimuli.

The peculiar ability of humans to recognize hundreds of faces at a glance has been attributed to face-specific perceptual mechanisms known as holistic processing. Holistic processing includes the ability to discriminate individual facial features (i.e., featural processing) and their spatial relationships (i.e., spacing processing). Here, we aimed to characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of featural- and spacing-processing of faces and objects. Nineteen healthy volunteers completed a newly created perceptual discrimination task for faces and objects (i.e., the “University of East London Face Task”) while their brain activity was recorded with a high-density (128 electrodes) electroencephalogram. Our results showed that early event related potentials at around 100 ms post-stimulus onset (i.e., P100) are sensitive to both facial features and spacing between the features. Spacing and features discriminability for objects occurred at circa 200 ms post-stimulus onset (P200). These findings indicate the existence of neurophysiological correlates of spacing vs. features processing in both face and objects, and demonstrate faster brain processing for faces.

Health Impact Assessment of Asian Dust/Cross-border Air Pollutant and Necessary Preventive Measure.

The health effects of Asian dust (mineral dust) originating from dry lands such as the Gobi Desert and Taklamakan Desert have recently been a concern. In addition to Asian dust, transboundary airborne microparticles that reach Japan include various types of aerosol, such as artificial air pollutants and smoke from combustion. They originate from densely populated areas and are transported along the same route as Asian dust. We analyzed environmental factors and subjective symptoms involving the respiratory organ, nose, eyes, and skin using a conventional equation for estimation, and found that symptoms with a significant risk of worsening varied according to the type of pollutants reaching Japan. We also analyzed the synergistic effects of Asian dust and pollens on nasal symptoms using a two-pollutant model. The odds ratio for symptoms at the time of arrival of a high concentration of Asian dust was 1.37 (95% confidence interval: 1.19-1.58), but the odds ratio adjusted for pollens was 1.18 (95% confidence interval: 1.04-1.34). Although the influence on nasal symptoms overlapped somewhat between Asian dust and pollens, that of Asian dust remained significant. Regarding preventive measures against symptoms, we examined the rate of particle leakage into masks. We found that it is important to wear a mask that fits an individual's facial features and has no gap between the face and the mask. In addition, we report our attempt to construct models for predicting aerosol arrival and forecasting health to establish preventive measures against aerosols.

Психологические ошибки при опознании человека по лицу

An experimental study of the psychological errors that arise in the recognition of human faces, and are essential for the accuracy of identification in criminal proceedings. It was found that the accuracy of the identification factor influences the verbalization of identification signs. It was revealed that the recognition of close acquaintances is subject to different laws than the unfamiliar. When you close the recognition of familiar people, in addition to individual facial features according to their specific configuration. If there is a significant range in the perception of recognizable face image memory, which is a support for the recognition, averaged, causing errors “similarity”

Feature proportion accuracy of hand-drawn facial approximation

Several studies have investigated the predictive accuracy of facial approximation methods for individual facial features, but few have investigated the ability of these methods to accurately predict the relative dimensions of these features. Photographs of 10 skulls from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection were used to create hand-drawn facial approximations following the guidelines presented in Taylor (2001). Measurements of the eyes, nose, and mouth were made and converted to ratios for comparison to their corresponding antemortem photographs. Potential error introduced by angulation in the antemortem photographs was assessed by finding similar ratio values for volunteers who were photographed at a series of angles. Eye measurements were distorted when individuals were turned 30 to 70° away from the camera. However, all antemortem photographs displayed individuals turned 30° or less from the camera. Wilcoxon signed rank tests revealed no significant differences between the hand-drawn approximations and the antemortem photograph measurements values for all feature relationships except for the eye width to iris diameter ratio, likely because the Taylor (2001) method does not reference the underlying bone when approximating the size and appearance of the eye.

The Facial Profile.

Facial appearance in our societies is often associated with notions of attractiveness, juvenileness, beauty, success, and so forth. Hence, the role of facial plastic surgery is highly interrelated to a patient's desire to feature many of these positively connoted attributes, which of course, are subject of different cultural perceptions or social trends. To judge about somebody's facial appearance, appropriate quantitative measures as well as methods to obtain and compare individual facial features are required. This special issue on facial profile is intended to provide an overview on how facial characteristics are surgically managed in an interdisciplinary way based on experience, instrumentation, and modern technology to obtain an aesthetic facial appearance with harmonious facial proportions. The facial profile will be discussed within the context of facial aesthetics. Latest concepts for capturing facial morphology in high speed and impressive detail are presented for quantitative analysis of even subtle changes, aging effects, or facial expressions. In addition, the perception of facial profiles is evaluated based on eye tracking technology.

Evaluating the effect of interactions between appearance-related product designs and facial characteristics on social affectivity

For products that can improve the appearance of the user, such as facial accessories, both the characteristics of the product user and design features must be considered in design evaluation. This paper proposes an experimental evaluation scheme that investigates the interactions between the design features of 3D eyeglasses frames and user facial characteristics. Face models of users containing both geometric and image data were constructed using 3D scanning. A face deformation method was developed to manipulate individual facial features without changing the other features on the face models. In the evaluation scheme, participants judged synthetic faces, which had varied eye distances and orientations and were wearing factorized eyeglasses frames, according to three affective measures related to the personality attributes of confidence, friendliness, and attractiveness. The experimental results show that changing certain design features influences the impressions of the face models with varied facial characteristics. The proposed scheme facilitates designing products that strengthen the impression of specific personality traits by accommodating individual differences in facial features. Relevance to industryThe evaluation scheme proposed in this paper facilitates designing products that strengthen the impression of specific personality traits by accommodating individual differences in facial features. By the scheme, companies can create products and services that satisfy individual customer requirements of personalized design.

Face drawing experience is associated with better face recognition performance and reduced left-side bias in face perception

Recent research in computer vision showed that while both analytic (local) and holistic (global) approaches perform well in face recognition, the fusion of the two yields the best performance. Professional face artists/caricaturists mastering both the drawing of individual facial features and whole faces may engage in such fused processing of faces, and thus may excel in face recognition. Zhou et al. (2012) found that art students with face drawing experience showed weaker holistic face processing than non-drawers; nevertheless, the two groups did not differ in sequential face-matching performance. Here we recruited professional face artists, in contrast to art students, in a simultaneous face-matching task with unfamiliar faces that differed in illumination, pose, disguise and expression. In contrast to sequential face-matching, our task reduces the involvement of visual short-term memory, as face artists' advantage is more likely to be in their perceptual ability than in memory. We recruited 15 face artists and 15 non-drawers. Before the experiment, participants drew a face within 15 minutes. An experienced face artist rated participants' expertise according to the drawings. We found that face artists outperformed non-drawers in the simultaneous face-matching task (t(28) = 2.56, p <.05). Face drawing expertise was positively correlated with face recognition performance (r = 0.38, p <.05). In addition, while non-drawers judged a face made from two left half-faces more similar to the original face than one from two right half-faces, i.e., the left side bias (right hemisphere dominance) in face perception, face artists had a reduced bias than non-drawers (t(28) = -2.39, p <.05), suggesting reduced global face processing. Face drawing expertise was negatively correlated with the bias (r = -0.47, p <.05). Together, the results suggest that face drawing expertise may shift attention from global to local, which may help face recognition in challenging tasks. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2014

Looking at faces from different angles: Europeans fixate different features in Asian and Caucasian faces.

Race categorization of faces is a fast and automatic process and is known to affect further face processing profoundly and at earliest stages. Whether processing of own- and other-race faces might rely on different facial cues, as indicated by diverging viewing behavior, is much under debate. We therefore aimed to investigate two open questions in our study: (1) Do observers consider information from distinct facial features informative for race categorization or do they prefer to gain global face information by fixating the geometrical center of the face? (2) Does the fixation pattern, or, if facial features are considered relevant, do these features differ between own- and other-race faces? We used eye tracking to test where European observers look when viewing Asian and Caucasian faces in a race categorization task. Importantly, in order to disentangle centrally located fixations from those towards individual facial features, we presented faces in frontal, half-profile and profile views. We found that observers showed no general bias towards looking at the geometrical center of faces, but rather directed their first fixations towards distinct facial features, regardless of face race. However, participants looked at the eyes more often in Caucasian faces than in Asian faces, and there were significantly more fixations to the nose for Asian compared to Caucasian faces. Thus, observers rely on information from distinct facial features rather than facial information gained by centrally fixating the face. To what extent specific features are looked at is determined by the face's race.

The perception of a familiar face is no more than the sum of its parts

Why do faces become easier to recognize with repeated exposure? Previous research has suggested that familiarity may induce a qualitative shift in visual processing from an independent analysis of individual facial features to analysis that includes information about the relationships among features (Farah, Wilson, Drain, & Tanaka Psychological Review, 105, 482-498, 1998; Maurer, Grand, & Mondloch Trends in Cognitive Science, 6, 255-260, 2002). We tested this idea by using a "summation-at-threshold" technique (Gold, Mundy, & Tjan Psychological Science, 23, 427-434, 2012; Nandy & Tjan Journal of Vision, 8, 3.1-20, 2008), in which an observer's ability to recognize each individual facial feature shown independently is used to predict their ability to recognize all of the features shown in combination. We find that, although people are better overall at recognizing familiar as opposed to unfamiliar faces, their ability to integrate information across features is similar for unfamiliar and highly familiar faces and is well predicted by their ability to recognize each of the facial features shown in isolation. These results are consistent with the idea that familiarity has a quantitative effect on the efficiency with which information is extracted from individual features, rather than a qualitative effect on the process by which features are combined.

Single-Neuron Correlates of Atypical Face Processing in Autism

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show abnormal processing of faces. A range of morphometric, histological, and neuroimaging studies suggest the hypothesis that this abnormality may be linked to the amygdala. We recorded data from single neurons within the amygdalae of two rare neurosurgical patients with ASD. While basic electrophysiological response parameters were normal, there were specific and striking abnormalities in how individual facial features drove neuronal response. Compared to control patients, a population of neurons in the two ASD patients responded significantly more to the mouth, but less to the eyes. Moreover, we found a second class of face-responsive neurons for which responses to faces appeared normal. The findings confirm the amygdala's pivotal role in abnormal face processing by people with ASD at the cellular level and suggest that dysfunction may be traced to a specific subpopulation of neurons with altered selectivity for the features of faces.