Face recognition technique using symbolic PCA method

Abstract

A face recognition technique based on symbolic PCA approach is presented in this paper. The proposed method transforms the face images by extracting knowledge from training samples into symbolic objects, termed as symbolic faces. Symbolic PCA is employed to compute a set of subspace basis vectors for symbolic faces and then to project the symbolic faces into the compressed subspace. New test images are then matched with the images in the database by projecting them onto the basis vectors and finding the nearest symbolic face in the subspace. The feasibility of the new symbolic PCA method has been successfully tested for face recognition using ORL database. As compared to eigenface method, the proposed method requires less number of features to achieve the same recognition rate. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.