Deep Learning for Head Pose Estimation: A Survey

Abstract

Head pose estimation (HPE) is an active and popular area of research. Over the years, many approaches have constantly been developed, leading to a progressive improvement in accuracy; nevertheless, head pose estimation remains an open research topic, especially in unconstrained environments. In this paper, we will review the increasing amount of available datasets and the modern methodologies used to estimate orientation, with a special attention to deep learning techniques. We will discuss the evolution of the field by proposing a classification of head pose estimation methods, explaining their advantages and disadvantages, and highlighting the different ways deep learning techniques have been used in the context of HPE. An in-depth performance comparison and discussion is presented at the end of the work. We also highlight the most promising research directions for future investigations on the topic.