Improving Prediction Quality of Face Image Preference Using Combinatorial Fusion Algorithm.

When two face images are shown to a subject, the subject’s preference choice is influenced by many factors. Although it is a challenging task, one way to detect a subject’s preference is to analyze the eye movement gaze cascade in the recorded video sequence together with a set of extracted attributes (features). Combinatorial fusion algorithm (CFA) is a new information fusion and machine learning paradigm for combining multiple scoring systems using rank-score characteristic (RSC) function and cognitive diversity (CD). In this paper, we apply CFA in the analysis of the eye movement gaze cascade sequence. In particular, we characterize each of the attributes and measure the diversity between two attributes using RSC function and CD respectively. The novelty of the combinatorial fusion approach is the new paradigm of incorporating both score function and rank function as well as using both score combination and rank combination. In addition, our results demonstrate that weighted rank combination has some advantage over weighted score combination when the weight is measured using diversity strength. Since diversity strength depends only on cognitive diversity between two attributes but not on any specific sequence in the eye movement gaze cascade, our result facilitates learning and modeling in an unsupervised manner.