A closed-loop algorithm to detect human face using color and reinforcement learning

A closed-loop algorithm to detect human face using color information and reinforcement learning is presented in this paper. By using a skin-color selector, the regions with color “like” that of human skin are selected as candidates for human face. In the next stage, the candidates are matched with a face model and given an evaluation of the match degree by the matching module. And if the evaluation of the match result is too low, a reinforcement learning stage will start to search the best parameters of the skin-color selector. It has been tested using many photos of various ethnic groups under various lighting conditions, such as different light source, high light and shadow. And the experiment result proved that this algorithm is robust to the varying lighting conditions and personal conditions. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 60105003) and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 600025).