An Attempt to Improve Eigenface Algorithm Efficiency for Colour Images

This article presents an attempt to improve Eigenface algorithm efficiency by using image pre-filtering in order to eliminate background areas of the picture and illumination influence. The background is treated as noise, so when noise is present then efficiency of the algorithm decreases. In order to eliminating this inconvenience, analysed image is pre-filtered by means of the colour classifier. The classifier eliminates pixels which have different colour than an average human skin colour on a digital photo. This causes that the Eigenface algorithm is less sensitive to background noise. The illumination influence was minimized by using hue information instead of traditionally used luminance. The main advantage of the proposed approach is possibility of using in environments where diverse image background texture and scene illumination appears. The eigenfaces technique can be applied in handwriting analysis, voice recognition, hand gestures interpretation and medical imaging.