da/sec scientific talk on Biometrics

Topic: Beautifying your Face Image can have its Price: A Study on the Impact of Beautification Apps on Face Recognition

by Christian Rathgeb
D19/2.03a, June 19, 2019 (Wednesday), 12.00 noon

Keywords — Biometrics, Face recognition, Beauty

Abstract

Nowadays, more and more facial images are captured using smart phones. To ensure the best outcome users often edit these images before sharing them, e.g. via social media. In particular beautification apps are common tools that can be applied to improve one’s facial appearance. Modifications resulting from such apps may represent a new challenge for face recognition technologies. In this work, the effects of beautification apps on face recognition are investigated. A qualitative assessment of 32 beautification apps available in app stores is conducted. Based on this assessment five apps are chosen which are used to manually create a database of 500 beautified face images. Biometric performance is measured before and after beautification using the commercial Cognitec FaceVACS system and the open-source FaceNet system. Obtained results reveal that the use of beautification apps has negligible impact on the commercial system but significantly effects the recognition accuracy of the open-source system.