Are there any "special" image compression algorithms for face cases?

Question

Are there any "special" image compression algorithms for face cases? So i'm creating a conference programm I want to transfer images (or videos) of talking heads through the internet. Are there any special algorithms to compress images/videos of talking heads so to make them smaller (like special voice compression algorithms)?

Answer 1

Really not my field, but I know that a couple of researchers from my university work on a compression algorithm that shows impressive results on limited domains (such as faces). They have published a few articles explaining the algorithms, as well as released a Matlab plugin for it.

The algorithm is called K-SVD, and you can read more about it in the basic article. There are many follow-up articles published as well.

For the implementation, check out:

• Prof. Elad's Software page
• Prof. Rubinstein Software Page