Face reconstruction using flesh deformation modes

Abstract

An important forensic problem is the identification of human skeletal remains. For this purpose the skull is commonly used as a means for building a face model, which may be used for recognition of the subject. This paper describes a method whereby a 3D computer model of the face and head is built using computer 3D graphics techniques. In reconstructing the shape of the face from a skull, it is essential to have data relating the shape of the face to the shape of the underlying skull. In manual reconstruction techniques this information is derived from flesh depth tables. We offer a method in which Computer Tomography (CT) scans are used to get a dense set of measurements of flesh depth. To model the variation of the facial shape, Principal Component Analysis is used as a means of exploring the space of the major facial deformations. After a subject skull and a set of database skulls have been aligned, the average face and principal deformations may be computed. Also provided are interactive tools for substituting facial features (such as nose, eyes, ears) from a catalog of such parts.