Experimental evaluation of facial expression recognition

We investigate facial expression recognition based on geometric features, and image appearance, using a range of classifier models. First, we evaluate expression recognition of face images based on geometric features, namely, facial landmarks based on the Active Appearance Model, and Action Units based on the Facial Action Coding System. A generalized linear model and a neural network are used to classify face images based on these geometric features. Second, the classification achieved by facial landmarks and Action Units is compared with the classification achieved by convolutional neural network (CNN) which extracts image features from raw pixels. Finally, we use transfer learning technique to evaluate classification using a pre-trained model. All experiments are performed on the state-of-the-art CK+ face database.