A STUDY ON

VARIOUS LANDMARKS OF
THE FACE THAT COULD BE
USED
FOR
FACE DETECTION,
FACE RECOGNITION
AND FACIAL EXPRESSION
DETERMINTATION

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Abstract:
This paper of ours deals primarily with the various
landmarks on the face that could be used to accurately
determine a human face. The parameters could also be
used to determine various facial expressions in the
human face. Along with face recognition, these nodal
points on the face can also be used for face recognition.
We have done a thorough study on the various research
works that have been done on facial recognition and
detection and the parameters that each of these papers
have used.

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Introduction:
Human face plays an important role in our social
interaction and to represent a persons identity. Thus,
detection of the human face and then extracting the
facial features of the face is an important ability with a
variety of applications such as human face recognition,
computer interactions, video conferencing etc. Using the
human face as a key to security, biometric face
recognition technology has received significant attention
in the past years. Face recognition has more advantages
over other biometric systems using finger print, palm
print etc. This is because facial recognition is a non-
contact process. Thus a study about the various
parameters of the face is very necessary to accurately
understand the various nodal points on the face which
could be used to design an ideal human face recognition
or face detection system.

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 The frontal pose of the face depicting few
details of the side pose of the face[1] (edited)

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The side pose of the face representing few
details of the face [1] (edited)

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 THE
STUDY

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The Human face consists of a variety of parameters or
nodal points that could be used to accurately determine
the face and can also be used for face recognition,
detection and can also be used for determining the facial
expressions. The most important landmarks of the face
that we have listed down that could be used to design
facial recognition or face detection systems are explained
from the next page.

1. Eyes
Eyes are the most important landmarks of the face that
forms the most necessary element to design a facial
recognition system. A number of works have been done that
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have detected the eyes as a whole and some works have
used the various properties of the eye to determine
precisely the location of the eye and the eye itself.
Some of the properties of the eyes that could be taken into
consideration are:

a. Distance between the two eyes(2)

i. The region in between the two eyes is called the
nasion(1) which is basically the intersection of the
frontal bone and the two nasal bones of the human
skull. Its manifestation on the visible surface of the
face is distinctly depressed area directly between
the eyes.
ii. Since the size of a human face is proportional to the
distance between the two eyes, a possible face
region which contains the eyebrows, eyes, nose,
and mouth can be formed based on this
relationship.
1. Related work:
a. Dr. Sipi Dubey et al. [1] uses somatology
to detect faces takes into consideration
this feature for facial recognition.

b. The iris(3)
i. The iris is a thin circular structure in the eye,
responsible for controlling the diameter and size of
the pupil and thus the amount of light reaching the
retina. Eye colour is defined by that of the iris.
1. Related work:
a. Kwok-Wai Wong et al. [12] takes into
consideration this feature of the eyes
along with other features as a facial
feature to detect the location of the eyes
as well as the eyes and uses this feature
as primary element for face detection.

c. Depth of the eye socket(4)

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 i. Our eyes are contained in sockets present in the
human skull. The depth of the eyes determines the
extent to which the eyes are protruded in the
human face. This property varies from person to
person and can be used as a primary nodal point for
facial recognition

1. Related work:
a. A.Devi et al. [20] claims the depth of the
eye socket as a primary nodal point of
the human face.
d. Right end of the right eye to the left end of the
left eye(5)
i. Biocular breadth refers to the distance from one
eye end to another eye end i.e., the right end of the
right eye to the left end of the left eye. Thus the
right end of the right eye and the left end of the left
eye is to be detected to determine the biocular
breadth.
ii. Width of each eye
1. In various human faces, the left and right eye
lengths are asymmetric and hence we can use
this feature for facial recognition.

Related work:
a. [12] Takes into consideration the right
end of the right eye to the left end of the
left eye along with the iris (as discussed
above) to accurately determine the
location of the eye as well as the eye.
b. Rajib Saha et al. [15] Has implemented
the SUSAN (Smallest Univalue Segment
Assimilating Nucleus) method to
determine the left and right ends of the
left and right eye respectively to
determine the eye. It basically identifies
the possible eye candidates in an image
by means of the valley features and the
corners of the eyes.
c. Dipankar Das et al.[16] Uses 37
landmarks out of 68 landmarks in the

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 face. It also uses the various regions of
the face to properly detect the various
facial expressions. One of the landmarks
of the face is the width of the eyes which
is measured by detecting the right end
of the eye to the left end of the eye in
each of the two eyes.

e. Height of each eye(6)

i. As discussed above, in various human faces the left
and right eye lengths are asymmetric. Thus, it is
quite implied that the height of each of the eye in
the human face might not be symmetric as well and
hence can be used for face recognition.
ii. To determine the eyes we need to detect the upper
and lower arcs of the eye

Other works:
o Madhulakshmi et al. [14] Uses the viola jones
algorithm and the computer vision toolbox to
determine a face and then the features of the
face are extracted out of which one of the
feature is the eye.

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Fig:1 Figure representing the details of the eye

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2. Mouth/Lips
The lip contour is a primary region which is widely used in
facial expression classification, lip recognition, gender
classification etc. Thus this nodal point of the face is a very
necessary aspect for face detection and recognition. A
number of works have been done that have detected the
lips as a whole and some works have used the various
properties of each of the lip (the upper and lower lip) to
determine precisely the location of the mouth and the
mouth itself. The colour of the lips is also an important
aspect that could be put into use for detection of the mouth.
Some of the properties of the lips that could be taken into
consideration are:
a. The corner of the lips(labial commisures)(7)
1.The width of the lips varies from person to person and
hence the width of the lips can be measured by
determining this feature (labial width)
Related works:
[1] Takes into consideration the width of the lips to
determine the facial topography.
Robert Brunelli et al. [7] Takes into consideration
the vertical position and the width of the upper
lip as well as the lower lip. Thus we can also
suggest that determining the lip cut is necessary to
differentiate between the upper and lower lips.
[16] Detects the corner of the lips as a landmark to
detect facial expression.
[12] Takes into consideration the corners of the
mouth as a facial feature and uses it for facial
detection.

b. Height of the lips (labial height) (8)

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 1.As discussed above the structure of the lips is not
same in case of all humans and hence the height of the
lips serves as an important landmark for facial
recognition.

Related work:
o [1] Takes into consideration the labial
height which is measured by determining
the top most point on the valley like feature
on the upper lip and the lowermost point on
the lower lip.

c. Curvature of the lips(9)

1.The curvature of the lower lip is a feature which could
also be used to differentiate people and hence serves
as an important element in face recognition.
Related work:
o [16] Uses the curvature of the lips and
considers it as a geometrical feature of the
face which has been further utilized to
detect facial expression.
d. The vermillion zone(10)
1.As it is clearly visible that the colour of the lips has a
sharp difference with the colour of the entire face. Thus
the lip region Is also identified as the vermillion zone.
And hence the difference in intensity of colour of the
lips compared to that of the face colour can be used to
identify the lips/mouth.

Other works:
o [14] Uses the viola jones algorithm
and the computer vision toolbox to
determine a face and then the
features of the face are extracted out
of which one of the feature is the lips.

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Fig2: Figure representing the details of the mouth

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3. Nose
Nose is one of the important landmarks in the face that is
used to detect particular face. Every human faces have a
nose but the structure of the nose might vary from person
to person. The nose can also be characterized by two dark
regions, corresponding to the nostrils, and a light region,
corresponding to the reflex of the light on the nose tip.

The various features of the nose which are useful for

detection of the nose as well as facial recognition and
detection are:

a. Both the corners of the nostrils.(Width of the

nose)(11)
i. The corners of the nostrils are measured to
determine the width of the nose. This implies that
the rightmost corner of the right nostril and the
leftmost corner of the left nostril is to be measured.
1. Related works:
a. [15] Uses the SUSAN method for corner
and border extraction to extract both the
corners of the nose and which are then
stored into a database for further use in
face recognition.
b. [7] Takes into consideration the width of
the nose.

b. Length of the nose(12)

i. The length of the nose might vary from person to
person and hence adds up to an essential feature
that could be used to differentiate between human
faces
1. Related works:
a. [7] takes into consideration the vertical
position of the nose

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c. The nose tip(13)
i. The height of the nose is also a property that
generally varies from person to person and hence
even this feature could be used to create an ideal
system to recognize faces

d. Nostrils(14)
i. As we had stated above the nose can also be
characterized by two dark region that represents
nostrils, hence it is quite obvious that if these dark
region is identified then the precise location of the
nose can also be determined.
1. Related works:
a. [12] Detects the nostrils of the nose in a
cluttered image.
Other works:
o [14] Has used the viola jones algorithm to
determine the human face. Firstly, the face
is detected using which a facial recognition
system has been implemented. The nose
has been detected as a whole and then its
corresponding histogram is generated
which is used along with the other points
for facial recognition.
o [13] Takes into consideration the nose as a
facial feature and uses it for facial
detection. The proposed system obtains a
face bounding box in the nose region.

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Fig3: Figure representing the details of the nose

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4. Ears
Ears are an aspect of the human face which if detected can
result into better detection of the face. It is located on two
sides of the human face.
[6] States that ear detection along with other facial features
like mouth, nose, and eyes etc. results into better detection of
the human face. The additional restriction imposed forces the
location for a face candidate (detected by a face detector) of
at least two inner facial features. The main benefit is that the
risk of false detections is reduced. However, the main benefit
of the ear detection inclusion, is that when an ear is detected
it additionally provides an evidence about the head pose.
[6] Has used the viola jones framework model in general to
detect both the ear patterns.
a. Height of the ears(15)
i. The height of the works can be put into
consideration as this property of the ear is different
in different person. The height of the nose can be
measured from the frontal as well as the side pose.
1. Related works:
a. [1] Takes into consideration the height of
the nose in the side pose to detect
human face using the technique of
somatology.
b. Similarity of the right ear with the left ear
i. This aspect of the ear can be put into use to
determine the symmetricity and can be used for
face detection or recognition.
c. Breadth of the ears (side pose)(16)
i. The breadth of the ears is also a property that
varies from person to person and hence can be put
into use to for facial recognition and detection.

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Fig 4: Figure representing the details of the ear

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5. Eyebrows
Eyebrows are one of the most important aspect that is used for
face recognition. This landmark of the face is generally put into
use for facial recognition but can also be used for face
detection as well. It is also used in many systems to determine
the position of the eye in the human face. The carious features
of the eyebrows if properly detected and measured can be put
into use to design an ideal face recognition system.

a. Curvature of the eyebrows(17)

i. The curvature of the eyebrows strongly imply the
facial structure of a human. This feature can be put
into use to differentiate between two or more
persons.
a. Distance from one eyebrow end to the
other(18)
i. Even this factor of the eyes is an important aspect
in determining the look of the face and helps in
facial recognition.
b. Distance between center point of
eyebrows(19)
i. The distance between the two eyebrows, like the
other properties of the eyebrows also helps in
differentiating between people.
c. Thickness of the eye brows(20)
i. The Thickness of the eye brows are also used for
facial detection and recognition.
1. Related works:
a. [7] Uses this geometrical feature as a
parameter for face recognition. It also
detects the vertical position of the eye
brows at the eye center position.
b. [7] also puts into use a coarse
description consisting of 11 data of the
left eyebrow arches

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 Other Works:
o [12] Takes into consideration the eyebrows
as a facial feature and uses it for face
detection.

Fig5: Figure representing the details of the eyebrows

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6. Other Points (present only in the
frontal pose of the face)
a. Naso labial fold(21)
i. Distance from the ala of the nose to the corners of
the mouth
ii. This feature can be used to determine facial
expression determination. For instance naso labial
folds becomes more prominent when a person
smiles. Hence, these folds are also called Naso
labial folds.
b. Philtrum (22)
i. refers to the section between the bottom of the
nose and the middle of the upper lip, the distance,
breadth and depth of the philtrum is to be
measured.

c. Bizygomatic breadth(23)
i. The width or breadth of the face from the widest
part of one zygomatic arch to the widest part of
the other. The protrusion from the skull is called
the zygoamtic arch.
1. Related works:
a. [7] takes into consideration the
bizygomatic breadth of the human face.
b. [1] takes into consideration this feature
d. Maximum head breadth(24)
i. The forehead breadth also varies from person to
person and can be put into use for facial
recognition.
1. Related work:
a. [1] takes into consideration this feature

e. Minimum frontal breadth(25)

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 i. The region in the face is a depression in the head
just above the nasion.
1. Related work:
a. [1] takes into consideration this feature

f. Bigonial breadth (26)

i. Distance from one gonoin to the other. The angle of
the mandible, located at the posterior border at the
junction of the lower border in the lower part of the
face is called the gonoin.
ii. Related work:
1. [7] takes into consideration the bigonal
breadth of a face.(Although [7] states that the
bigonal breadth is the face width at nose
position)
g. the chin(27)
i. The chin or the mental region is the area of the ace
below the lower lip including the mandibular
prominence. This portion of the human face can
also well determine the differences in different
faces.
1. Related work:
a. [7] Takes into consideration the chin
shape and measures 11 radii from the
tubercle of the lip (in the middle of the
upper lip is a small projection that
sometimes enlarges or thickens) to the
jaw arc.
b. [13] Takes into consideration the chin
and cheek contours.
h. Skin texture(28)
i. The texture of the skin can be observed to
determine the ethnicity of human beings.
i. labio-mental groove(29)
i. just below the lower lip , the horizontal depression
that separates the lips from the chin
ii. The labio mental groove can also be used to
determine the look of different people.
j. Total head height(30)

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 i. The length from the vertex of the head to the
gnathion.
1. Related work:
a. [1] takes into consideration this feature

Fig 6: Figure representing the other details in the frontal posture of the
face

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7. Other Points (present only in the
side pose of the face)
Many points of the landmarks of the face that can only be
obtained from the side pose of the face has already been
discussed above. Some more of which are [1]:
a. The head height(1)
i. The distance from the vertex to the middle point of
the ear. This landmark can also be detected in the
frontal pose.
1. Related work:
a. [1] has taken into consideration the head
height to design a facial recognition
system
b. The maximum head length(2)
i. The distance from the glabellar point to the
extreme point at the back of the head. (Glabeller
point refers to the protruding part just above the
eyes.)
1. Related work:
a. [1] has taken into consideration the
maximum head length to design a facial
recognition system
c. The length of the nasion.(3)
i. The length of the nosion has been depicted in figure
7
1. Related work:
a. [1] has taken into consideration the
length of the nasion to design a facial
recognition system

d. Bitragion-menton arc(4)
i. arc from chin to the middle of the ear
ii. This curvature largely determines the shape of the
face
e. Bitragion-subnasal arc(5)
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 i. arc from ala of the nose to the middle of the ear
ii. This curvature largely determines the shape of the
face

f. The plane of the ear(6)

i. The plane of the ear is basically the width of the ear
when measured from the side pose
1. Related work:
a. [1] has taken into consideration the
plane of the ear to design a facial
recognition system
g. The protrusion of the Darwinian tubercle(7)
i. The protrusion from the Darwinian tubercle (8)
generally varies from person to person and hence
can serve as a great parameter for face recognition.
1. Related work:
a. [1] has taken into consideration the
protrusion of the Darwinian tubercle to
design a facial recognition system
h. The infra orbital foramen(9)
i. The infra orbital foramen can also be used for facial
recognition. In many people the infra orbital
prominent is prominently visible and in some it is
dormant. Thus its protrusion in the face is well
visible in the side pose and thus can be used for
facial recognition.
1. Related work:
a. [1] has taken into consideration the
inferior orbital point(infra orbital
foramen) to design a facial recognition
system

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Page | 27
 Fig 7: Figure representing the other details of the face from the side
pose

Conclusion:
Thus we have shown the various landmarks on the
face that have been or can be used for face detection and
recognition. We have also shown various research works
that have taken into consideration the various features of
the face and hence have proven the validity of the
necessity of the features. After thorough study of the

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landmarks of the face, we have also been able to
conclude many other landmarks of the face that have
rarely been used but if used can help in determining
much fine results.

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