Facial Expression Classification through Covariance Matrix Correlations

This paper attempts to classify known facial expressions and to establish the correlations between two regions (eye + eyebrows and mouth) in identifying the six prototypic expressions. Covariance is used to describe region texture that captures facial features for classification. The texture captured exhibit the pattern observed during the execution of particular expressions. Feature matching is done by simple distance measure between the probe and the modeled representations of eye and mouth components. We target JAFFE database in this experiment to validate our claim. A high classification rate is observed from the mouth component and the correlation between the two (eye and mouth) components. Eye component exhibits a lower classification rate if used independently.