WEB SERVICES for Face Detection & Recognition

By using web services, the client software does not need to bother about libraries or platform dependencies. It simply calls a web server, sends the images to process, and gets back the results. As long as real-time feedback is not an issue, this is an interesting new approach. (If you know of a Web Service that is not listed here, please contribute the information on the Contactpage and it will get added).

• BioID Face Recognition Web Service

  Service for identifying persons by face (and/or voice). Finds faces and sends back standardized face portraits. All methods can be tried with file upload or live webcam recording. There is also a free iOS App offered to use the service for face login. Needs anonymous registration here and is free for single users.

• Betaface Web API

  Service for face and facial features finding and recognition. Web API including demos, documentation and samples of usage. Free for evaluation or education purposes as well as non-commercial projects.

• Lambda Labs Face Recognition API

  Service for identifying persons by faces. The API provides face recognition, facial detection, eye position, nose position, mouth position, and gender classification. Needs registration.

• Face++

  Face++ uses technologies of computer vision and data mining to provide 3 core vision services (Detection, Recognition, and Analysis). Free. Needs registration.

• Microsoft Project Oxford

  Microsoft’s cloud-based face algorithms to detect and recognize human faces in images. Needs registration, currently free up to 5000 usages/month.

• Google Vision API

  Google’s cloud-based image content analysis preview. Includes face detection (no recognition), but also other interesting things like logo detection, adult scene detection, and many others. Limited preview only, but free to use currently.

• FaceR API

  Face recognition Web API from Animetrics, Inc. Offers face finding and recognition. Needs registration to obtain an API key.

• KeyLemon Web Service

  Face and speaker recognition Web REST API. Registration required.

• Meerkat Facial Recognition

  Face recognition Web API. Free for up to 1000 calls/month.

FREEWARE for face finding and facial recognition

The bad thing about the internet nowadays is, that you will not find much source code around anymore. Nevertheless, here is a (hopefully growing) list of what’s available for free…

• Google Mobile Vision API

  Android Mobile Vision API. This differs from the Google Vision API in that it runs on-device (i.e., no need to communicate with a cloud server). The API supports detecting frontal faces, faces in different poses (e.g., profiles), facial landmarks, etc. and can track faces in video.

• Dlib C++ Library

  Dlib is a general purpose cross-platform C++ library with many machine-learning related algorithms. Version 1.8 introduced the histogram-of-oriented-gradient (HOG) based object detection, a very powerful technique, very useful for detecting faces. Open Source!

• Imacondis Face SDK

  Imacondis Face SDK is a set of software development tools that allows the creation of applications for face detection, recognition and verification.
  Algorithms and SDK based on many years of research also conducted at Warsaw University of Technology. Trial version for non-commercial use.

• Facial landmark detector

  “flandmark” is an open source C library (with interface to MATLAB) implementing a facial landmark detector in static images. From the Center of Machine Perception, Czech Technical University, Prague.

• Semantic Vision Technologies

  Face and facial features detection libraries for MS Windows. Free for non-commercial use! From Jacek Naruniec, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland.

• Face Detection using Support Vector Machine (SVM)

  Includes both datasets and code for face detection using Support Vector Machines.

• Rank Deficient Faces

  Face detection demo with library for MS Windows platforms.

• Visage

  Visage is a human computer interface that aims to replace the traditional mouse with the face.

• Face Tracking DLL from Carnegie Mellon

  The Advanced Multimedia Processing Lab (AMP) offers face tracking using color matching combined with deformable templates. Both DLL for Windows and static library for Linux.

• SHORE: Real-time face detection program from FhG-IIS

  Demo from the Fraunhofer Institute IIS, Germany. Shows face tracking and detection using edge orientation matching. Fast multi-face finding capabilities. SDK available on demand.

• Evaluation of Face Recognition Algorithms

  Resource for all researchers developing face recognition algorithms from Colorado State University. It provides a standard set of well known algorithms and established experimental protocols. Includes C source code for face recognition using PCA (Eigenfaces) and Gabor Wavelets!

• OpenCV – Intel’s Open Source Computer Vision initiative

  Now this is really interesting: Intel initiates an open source community for computer vision. C++ source code for face recognition, motion tracking, and many others. There’s also a mailing list for contributors. Highly recommended! With source code.

  Visit OpenCV at Sourceforge

  Visit OpenCV forum at Yahoo

• Computer Vision Source Code

  Not really about face detection, but nevertheless a very useful collection of image processing code you might need when working in this area. With source code.

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