In this paper, we present a deep learning based image feature extraction method designed specifically for face images. To train the feature extraction model, we construct a large scale photo-realistic face image dataset with ground-truth correspondence between multi-view face images, which are synthesized from real photographs via an inverse rendering procedure. The deep face feature (DFF) is trained using correspondence between face images rendered from different views. Using the trained DFF model, we can extract a feature vector for each pixel of a face image, which distinguishes different facial regions and is shown to be more effective than general-purpose feature descriptors for face-related tasks such as matching and alignment. Based on the DFF, we develop a robust face alignment method, which iteratively updates landmarks, pose and 3D shape. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method can achieve state-of-the-art results for face alignment under highly unconstrained face images.
@cite_30: 
@cite_18: We describe a multi-resolution technique for locating for variable structures in images. This is an extension of work on Active Shape Models (ASMs) - statistical models which iteratively deform to match image data. An ASM consists of a shape model controlling a set of landmark points, together with a statistical model of the grey-levels expected around each landmark. Both the shape model and the grey-level models are trained on sets of labelled example images. In order to apply a coarse-to-fine search strategy it is necessary to train a set of grey-level models for each landmark, one for every level of a multi-resolution image pyramid. During image search the model is started on the coarsest resolution image. As the search progresses it moves to finer and finer resolutions until no further improvement can be made. We describe an automatic technique for deciding when to :ss has converged. We demonstrate the ntitative experiments which show a sigi speed and quality of fit compared to previous methods.
@cite_4: 
@cite_22: We present a novel discriminative regression based approach for the Constrained Local Models (CLMs) framework, referred to as the Discriminative Response Map Fitting (DRMF) method, which shows impressive performance in the generic face fitting scenario. The motivation behind this approach is that, unlike the holistic texture based features used in the discriminative AAM approaches, the response map can be represented by a small set of parameters and these parameters can be very efficiently used for reconstructing unseen response maps. Furthermore, we show that by adopting very simple off-the-shelf regression techniques, it is possible to learn robust functions from response maps to the shape parameters updates. The experiments, conducted on Multi-PIE, XM2VTS and LFPW database, show that the proposed DRMF method outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms for the task of generic face fitting. Moreover, the DRMF method is computationally very efficient and is real-time capable. The current MATLAB implementation takes 1 second per image. To facilitate future comparisons, we release the MATLAB code and the pre-trained models for research purposes.
@cite_8: We describe a new method of matching statistical models of appearance to images. A set of model parameters control modes of shape and gray-level variation learned from a training set. We construct an efficient iterative matching algorithm by learning the relationship between perturbations in the model parameters and the induced image errors.
@cite_29: 
@cite_21: We present an efficient and robust method of locating a set of feature points in an object of interest. From a training set we construct a joint model of the appearance of each feature together with their relative positions. The model is fitted to an unseen image in an iterative manner by generating templates using the joint model and the current parameter estimates, correlating the templates with the target image to generate response images and optimising the shape parameters so as to maximise the sum of responses. The appearance model is similar to that used in the Active Appearance Models (AAM) [T.F. Cootes, G.J. Edwards, C.J. Taylor, Active appearance models, in: Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Computer Vision 1998, vol. 2, Freiburg, Germany, 1998.]. However in our approach the appearance model is used to generate likely feature templates, instead of trying to approximate the image pixels directly. We show that when applied to a wide range of data sets, our Constrained Local Model (CLM) algorithm is more robust and more accurate than the AAM search method, which relies on the image reconstruction error to update the model parameters. We demonstrate improved localisation accuracy on photographs of human faces, magnetic resonance (MR) images of the brain and a set of dental panoramic tomograms. We also show improved tracking performance on a challenging set of in car video sequences.
@cite_6: Human faces captured in real-world conditions present large variations in shape and occlusions due to differences in pose, expression, use of accessories such as sunglasses and hats and interactions with objects (e.g. food). Current face landmark estimation approaches struggle under such conditions since they fail to provide a principled way of handling outliers. We propose a novel method, called Robust Cascaded Pose Regression (RCPR) which reduces exposure to outliers by detecting occlusions explicitly and using robust shape-indexed features. We show that RCPR improves on previous landmark estimation methods on three popular face datasets (LFPW, LFW and HELEN). We further explore RCPR's performance by introducing a novel face dataset focused on occlusion, composed of 1,007 faces presenting a wide range of occlusion patterns. RCPR reduces failure cases by half on all four datasets, at the same time as it detects face occlusions with a 80 40 precision recall.
@cite_0: We present an efficient method of fitting a set of local feature models to an image within the popular Active Shape Model (ASM) framework [3]. We compare two different types of non-linear boosted feature models trained using GentleBoost [9]. The first type is a conventional feature detector classifier, which learns a discrimination function between the appearance of a feature and the local neighbourhood. The second local model type is a boosted regression predictor which learns the relationship between the local neighbourhood appearance and the displacement from the true feature location. At run-time the second regression model is much more efficient as only the current feature patch needs to be processed. We show that within the local iterative search of the ASM the local feature regression provides improved localisation on two publicly available human face test sets as well as increasing the search speed by a factor of eight.
@cite_24: 
Classical Face Alignment Classical face alignment methods, including Active Shape Model (ASM) @cite_18 @cite_0 and Active Appearance Model (AAM) @cite_29 @cite_30 @cite_4 @cite_8 , simulate the image generation process and perform face alignment by minimizing the difference between the model appearance and the input image. These methods can achieve accurate reconstruction results, but require a large number of face models with detailed and accurate point-wise correspondence, as well as high computation cost of parameter fitting. Constrained Local Model (CLM) @cite_22 @cite_21 employs discriminative local texture models to regularize the landmark locations. The CLM algorithm is more robust than the AAM method, which updates the model parameters by minimizing the image reconstruction error. Recently, regression based methods @cite_6 @cite_24 have been proposed to directly estimate landmark locations from the discriminative features around landmarks. Most regression based algorithms do not consider the visibility of facial landmarks under different view angles. As a result, their performance can degrade substantially for input face images with large poses.