Friday, December 30, 2016
Face Detection in Google Play services
Face Detection in Google Play services
Posted by Laurence Moroney, Developer Advocate
With the release of Google Play services 7.8, we announced the addition of new Mobile Vision APIs, which includes a new Face API that finds human faces in images and video better and faster than before. This API is also smarter at distinguishing faces at different orientations and with different facial features facial expressions.
Face Detection
Face Detection is a leap forward from the previous Android FaceDetector.Face API. It’s designed to better detect human faces in images and video for easier editing. It’s smart enough to detect faces even at different orientations -- so if your subject’s head is turned sideways, it can detect it. Specific landmarks can also be detected on faces, such as the eyes, the nose, and the edges of the lips.
| Important Note This is not a face recognition API. Instead, the new API simply detects areas in the image or video that are human faces. It also infers from changes in the position frame to frame that faces in consecutive frames of video are the same face. If a face leaves the field of view, and re-enters, it isn’t recognized as a previously detected face. |
Detecting a face
When the API detects a human face, it is returned as a Face object. The Face object provides the spatial data for the face so you can, for example, draw bounding rectangles around a face, or, if you use landmarks on the face, you can add features to the face in the correct place, such as giving a person a new hat.
getPosition()- Returns the top left coordinates of the area where a face was detectedgetWidth()- Returns the width of the area where a face was detectedgetHeight()- Returns the height of the area where a face was detectedgetId()- Returns an ID that the system associated with a detected face
Orientation
The Face API is smart enough to detect faces in multiple orientations. As the head is a solid object that is capable of moving and rotating around multiple axes, the view of a face in an image can vary wildly.
Here’s an example of a human face, instantly recognizable to a human, despite being oriented in greatly different ways:
The API is capable of detecting this as a face, even in the circumstances where as much as half of the facial data is missing, and the face is oriented at an angle, such as in the corners of the above image.
Here are the method calls available to a face object:
getEulerY()- Returns the rotation of the face around the vertical axis -- i.e. has the neck turned so that the face is looking left or right [The y degree in the above image]getEulerZ()- Returns the rotation of the face around the Z azis -- i.e. has the user tilted their neck to cock the head sideways [The r degree in the above image]
Landmarks
A landmark is a point of interest within a face. The API provides a getLandmarks() method which returns a List, where a Landmark object returns the coordinates of the landmark, where a landmark is one of the following: Bottom of mouth, left cheek, left ear, left ear tip, left eye, left mouth, base of nose, right cheek, right ear, right ear tip, right eye or right mouth.
Activity
In addition to detecting the landmark, the API offers the following function calls to allow you to smartly detect various facial states:
getIsLeftEyeOpenProbability()- Returns a value between 0 and 1, giving probability that the left eye is opengetIsRighteyeOpenProbability()- Same but for right eyegetIsSmilingProbability()- Returns a value between 0 and 1 giving a probability that the face is smiling
Thus, for example, you could write an app that only takes a photo when all of the subjects in the image are smiling.
Learn More
It’s easy to build applications that use facial detection using the Face API, and we’ve provided lots of great resources that will allow you to do so. Check them out here:
Follow the Code Lab
Read the Documentation
Explore the sample
+Android Developers
Available link for download
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Check out Facer Hey KittyKitty and more in our Android Wear watch face roundup
Check out Facer Hey KittyKitty and more in our Android Wear watch face roundup
Five fantastic watch faces to add some flair to your smartwatch.
Sometimes you need a little bit of personal flair with your accessories, and your smartwatch is no exception to this rule. Thankfully there are hundreds upon hundreds of different watch faces that allow you to do just that. Rather than making you slog through the good, bad, and ugly watch faces, weve collected five awesome faces that might be new to you.
So if youve been hoping to find something new to spice up your smartwatch, then look no further. Weve got you covered. Keep scrolling to see what weve collected for you this week!
Facer
Sometimes you dont want to decide on a single watch face. Instead you want to have access to plenty of options to switch between multiple watch faces without the hassle of having to constantly go searching through the Google Play Store for them. Thats where Facer comes in. Facer is a free app that boasts dozens of different watch faces from within their app.
There is a ton of content within Facer that you can explore at your leisure. There are unlockable watch faces that are only available once you have completed certain tasks within the app like sharing a watch face with friends. You can explore their top charts for both free and paid watch faces, or you can see their featured ones. The last but not least of the awesomeness is the fact you can easily build your own watch faces from within the app.
Download: Facer (free)
HeyKittyKitty
Sometimes you just need a cute watch face to get through a rough day. If thats the case, then the HeyKittyKitty watch face might be just up your alley. This is a super simple watch face that features an adorable kitty along with the time and date, but not much else. You can adjust the time format, select ambient mode, and select whether the animation loops.
At the very bottom of the screen is the current date with the month, day and day of the week. Just above that is the time in a default 12-hour digital style. In the middle of your screen is a cat with a small ball of yarn. If you tap on it, youll get an animation of that cat flopping onto its back for belly rubs. Best of all this watch face is available for the low, low price of absolutely free.
Download: HeyKittyKitty watchface (free)
Stopwatch and Timer
Maybe youre training for a 5K, or you just want to know how long it takes you to do 100 pushups. Whatever the reason, having easy access to a stopwatch, and a timer right on your wrist can be handy. Thats where the Stopwatch and Timer watch face comes in. It gets you access to the timers you want, along with the time, date and even battery percentage on your smart watch. Its also got a fair few options that will let you adjust the background, as well as what is showing on the watch face and even what position the information displayed is in.
The time is displayed in digital 24-hour format at the top of your screen. Just under that is the timer on the left, and your stopwatch on the right. By tapping youll either set a timer, or start your stopwatch. At the bottom left of the screen is todays date with the day of week, month and day. On the bottom right is your battery indicator. This watch face can be particularly handy in a pinch and is available for $0.99.
Download: Stopwatch and Timer watch face ($0.99)
YinYang
For some people, a watch face that just gives you the time with a background is all that you need. If thats the case, then the Yin Yang watch face should interest you. This is a watch face where what you see is what you get, there arent any options to change or adjust anything. What you do get is a background with a yin yang, and the time over top of it.
This watch face displays the time in a classic watch analog style. Youll see tick marks around the edge of your screen to denote the hours of the day. The watch hands will tick off hours, minutes, and seconds as time passes. Thankfully this super simple watch face is available for free.
Download: Yin Yang watch face (free)
WatchMaster
WatchMaster is another app that enables you to find and download hundreds of different watch faces. You can search through their free watch faces, brand watch faces, search by category and even see watch faces that are coming to the app in the near future. One of the really cool features of WatchMaster is how many watch face developers are using it. As you scroll through you may see familiar watch faces from the Google Play Store, like the Fiore watch face or the mysterious forest watch face.
While you have the option of only downloading free watch faces, or paying for each watch face separately, there is a third option with WatchMaster. You can opt in to the Pro version of the app, which gives you access to all of the watch faces on their app. You can subscribe yearly for $6.99, or upgrade permanently for $16.99. Part of this subscription fee even goes to creators to ensure that future watch faces will be of a higher quality.
Download: WatchMaster (free)
These are just the 5 watch faces that caught our eye this go round. There are hundreds of different watch faces that are available through the Google Play Store, with more being added every day. No matter what kind of face you want for your smartwatch, there is definitely one out there. Were any of these watch faces up your alley? Do you have a favorite we should know about? Let us know in the comments below!
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