Scalable face image retrieval

A method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of images by a computing device, wherein each image includes a face associated with an individual;
• detecting the face in each of the plurality of images by the computing device;
• identifying a plurality of facial components for each detected face by the computing device;
• generating a plurality of visual words from the identified plurality of facial components of each detected face by the computing device;
• and
• for each generated plurality of visual words, storing the generated plurality of visual words.

A system comprising:

• at least one computing device:
• a training component that:
• receives a plurality of images, wherein each image includes a face associated with an individual;
• detects the face in each of the plurality of images;
• for each detected face, identifies a plurality of facial components of the detected face;
• for each identified facial component, generates a plurality of visual words from the identified facial component of the detected face;
• and
• for each generated plurality of visual words, stores the generated plurality of visual words with an identifier of the individual associated with the detected face included in the image and an identifier of the image;
• and
• a matching component that:
• receives an image, wherein the image is not part of the plurality of images;
• detects a face in the image;
• identifies a plurality of facial components of the detected face in the image;
• generates a plurality of visual words from the identified plurality of facial components;
• compares the generated plurality of visual words from the identified facial components with the plurality of stored visual words;
• and
• determines one or more candidate matching images from the plurality of images for the received image based on the comparison.