8 June 2009
Almost all modern digital cameras now use face detection, but how does this actually benefit us? What's the point of it all? Well basically, modern digital cameras have these clever computer algorithms inside them to optimise the process of taking shots of, yes you've guessed it, people! Be it your mother, your best friend, or even granny Mavis, if the digital camera knows what you're trying to capture, it can adjust several settings to take the photo as best it can.
Most face detection algorithms are only good at recognising faces from the front, i.e. two eyes, a nose and a mouth. It's more difficult to recognise people with their head turned away from the camera, or at an angle. But face detection technology is improving all the time and the latest digital cameras are becoming quite smart.
So once the camera has detected a face, it usually highlights the area on the LCD display to show you how clever it is. When the photo is finally taken, the camera adjusts its focus so that the face is as sharp as possible, or if multiple faces are detected the camera may take an average and try to focus on a compromised point so that no faces are out of focus.
It's not just focus which is adjusted, shutter speeds can be changed depending on the light levels around the detected face, together with image stabilisation settings to further optimise the image.
Besides digital cameras, face detection algorithms have other applications, such as use in biometrics often as part of a facial recognition system. Face detection can also be used in video surveillance, and human computer interfaces.
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