Method, apparatus and computer program product for providing an orientation independent face detector

An apparatus comprising a processor configured to:

• generate multiple mosaic images from an input image, each of the multiple mosaic images having a different scale;
• employ a plurality of differently oriented edge detectors to perform edge detection on the multiple mosaic images including combining edges of the multiple mosaic images having the different scales;
• and
• perform face detection in regions corresponding to the differently oriented edge detectors based on respective feature maps produced by the differently oriented edge detectors.

A computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instruction comprising:

• program code instructions for generating multiple mosaic images from an input image, each of the multiple mosaic images having a different scale;
• program code instructions for employing a plurality of differently oriented edge detectors to perform edge detection on the multiple mosaic images including combining edges of the multiple mosaic images having the different scales;
• and
• program code instructions for performing face detection in regions corresponding to the differently oriented edge detectors based on respective feature maps produced by the differently oriented edge detectors.

An apparatus comprising:

• means for generating multiple mosaic images from an input image, each of the multiple mosaic images having a different scale;
• means for employing a plurality of differently oriented edge detectors to perform edge detection on the multiple mosaic images including combining edges of the multiple mosaic images having the different scales;
• and
• means for performing face detection in regions corresponding to the differently oriented edge detectors based on respective feature maps produced by the differently oriented edge detectors.