
You’ll find some additional resources on the framework listed under Further Reading later on in this tutorial. Jones, this approach has become the de facto standard for face detection. Of course when we talk about feature detection in this context, it’s nothing to do with the sort of feature detection provided by libraries such as Modernizr and yepnope!įirst presented in a 2004 article by Paul Viola and Michael J. Although OpenCV is written in C++, we can use it in Node.js applications thanks to the opencv package.Īmongst the algorithms implemented in OpenCV is the Viola-Jones object detection framework, which is used to detect features in images.įace detection is simply a sub-set of feature (object) detection, but the algorithm is geared towards the challenges involved in detecting faces specifically. OpenCV (Open Source Computer Vision) is an open-source library of hundreds of computer vision algorithms. OpenCV and the Viola-Jones Object Detection Algorithm We’re going to build something similar.īefore we dig into the code, let’s look at some of the tools and concepts we’re going to be using. When you upload a photo of your friends, Facebook often shows it back to you with any faces highlighted, in order to prompt you to “tag” people in it.

And like so many things, it also has applications in marketing.įor the purposes of this tutorial, we’ll replicate a feature that you may well have used yourself if you’re a Facebook user. Some cameras use face detection for auto focussing. Some modern biometrics systems detect faces and then use facial recognition to compare those faces to images in their databases, in order to try and identify someone without having to resort to good old-fashioned passwords. There are numerous applications of face detection. (Original image from Wikipedia) Applications of Face Detection

…and here’s what the face detection does: To illustrate the process, here’s an example image: Facial recognition is a huge topic for another time, but face detection is the subject of this article. It shouldn’t be confused with facial recognition - i.e., trying to work out who someone is from a photograph - but it’s the first part of the process.
#Brew install opencv 2.4.11 code#
Computers can do it, too - it just takes some clever algorithms, reams of code and some training of the algorithms.įace detection is the process of identifying faces in digital images. Human beings have an innate ability to detect, process and recognize faces - we’re born with it.
