3-D shape reconstruction of human face from a 2-d facial image and provision for change of expression

SUMMARY Various s t u d i e s are p r e s e n t l y b e i n g made on t h e f a c i a l image (e. g. , h i g h l y e f f i-c i e n t coding and t h e d i s c r i m i n a t i o n of f a c e s) f o r computer a n i m a t i o n and TV conference systems. T h i s p a p e r d e s c r i b e s a method i n which t h e three-dimensional (3-D) shape of t h e f a c e i s e s t i m a t e d from a s i n g l e 2-D f a c i a l image, and t h e e x p r e s s i o n o r t h e d i r e c t i o n of t h e f a c e can be modified. The o r i g i n a l 2-D f a c i a l image need n o t b e t a k e n from t h e f r o n t , and t h e image from any d i r e c-t i o n can be used. The curved s u r f a c e model, n o t t h e u s u a l polyhedron model, i s employed as t h e 3-D shape model. The s u r f a c e model g e n e r a t e s t h e curved s u r f a c e p a s s i n g through t h e f e a t u r e p o i n t s of t h e f a c e (e. g. , t h e e y e s and b o t h ends of t h e mouth) and produces t h e 3-D shape of t h e f a c e. Compared t o t h e c o n v e n t i o n …