Advanced real-time face detection and recognition in MATLAB

Abstract

Face detection and recognition technologies are increasingly vital in security and surveillance. This article covers two main areas with real-time application: the basics of image processing, such as edge detection and filters, and an overview of global methods for face detection and recognition. The Viola-Jones algorithm, based on Haar-like features and a cascade of classifiers, has been utilized for detecting objects within the images. MATLAB’s toolbox has been used to further enhance face detection performance by identifying human facial patterns in webcam-captured frames. For face recognition, the algorithm compares a detected face with reference images, counting zero-valued differences. If these zero elements exceed a certain threshold, a match is confirmed, indicating a high similarity between the captured face and the reference image. This study presents a low-cost MATLAB prototype emphasizing practical, educational demonstration of real-time face analysis.