A robust face detection for human interactive mobile robot

This paper proposes a novel face detection method to be used for practical human interactive mobile robot. Towards future aging society, there are much expectation and social demand for a mobile robot that is possible to interactively collaborate and support human. Typical examples are pet robot and service robot. Guard robot is another example. Face detection and recognition are very crucial for such applications. However, in the real situation, it is not easy to realize the robust detecting function because position, size, and brightness of face image are much changeable. The proposed method solves these problems by combining correlation-based pattern matching, histogram equalization, skin color extraction, and multiple scale images generation. The authors have implemented a prototype system based upon the proposed method and conducted some experiments using the system. Experimental results support effectiveness of the proposed idea.