Can you find a face in a HEVC bitstream?

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how to localize faces directly from HEVC bitstreams without full image reconstruction, advancing privacy-preserving face detection techniques in computer vision applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for face localization directly from HEVC syntax, extending previous work on face detection without image reconstruction.

Findings

Face localization is possible directly from HEVC bitstreams.

The approach enhances privacy by avoiding full image reconstruction.

Potential applications in privacy-sensitive face detection scenarios.

Abstract

Finding faces in images is one of the most important tasks in computer vision, with applications in biometrics, surveillance, human-computer interaction, and other areas. In our earlier work, we demonstrated that it is possible to tell whether or not an image contains a face by only examining the HEVC syntax, without fully reconstructing the image. In the present work we move further in this direction by showing how to localize faces in HEVC-coded images, without full reconstruction. We also demonstrate the benefits that such approach can have in privacy-friendly face localization.