Automatic face recognition based on sparse representation and extended transfer learning

Sparse representation has exhibited excellent performance in face recognition. However, this method requires some areas for improvement, especially on insufficient face samples. We aim to design a simple and efficient method to improve sparse representation to solve problems with a small sample size. This paper provides two primary contributions that are very effective in small sample face recognition. First, in order to enhance recognition robustness, we designed an intuitive and mathematically controllable transfer learning method of sparse representation by introducing labeled samples. Second, to obtain high recognition accuracy, we developed a weighted fusion scheme to integrate the sparse representation results generated from original and labeled samples. In the ORL dataset, our algorithm's highest accuracy rate is 95%. In the FERET dataset, our highest classification accuracy rate is 95%. In the more complex LFW dataset, our highest classification accuracy rate has also reached 83.33%. This shows that our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can obtain sufficient performance, whereas the weighted fusion scheme can take advantage of sparse representation on the basis of original and labeled samples. This paper will be very useful for identification based on the Internet-of-Medical-Things.