Robust frontal view search using extended manifold learning

Many 2D face processing algorithms can perform better using frontal or near frontal faces. In this paper, we present a robust frontal view search method based on manifold learning, with the assumption that with the pose being the only variable, face images should lie in a smooth and low-dimensional manifold. In 2D embedding, we find that manifold geometry of face images with varying poses has the shape of a parabola with the frontal view in the vertex. However, background clutter and illumination variations make frontal view deviate from the vertex. To address this problem, we propose a pairwise K-nearest neighbor protocol to extend manifold learning. In addition, we present an illumination-robust localized edge orientation histogram to represent face image in the extended manifold learning. The experimental results show that the extended algorithms have higher search accuracy, even under varying illuminations.