Automatic Mask Detecion using Convolutional Neural Networks and Variational Autoencoder

The importance of proper hygienical behaivour is essential in today’s word especially during an ongoing pandemic. Wearing mask became mandatory in many countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Recognizing whether people are wearing masks is complicated image recognition task which could be facilitated and automated with machine learning techniques. Camera streams are widely available in indoor environments which can be used for object detection and image processing. Convolutional Neural Networks have been successfully applied in image classification and object recognition task in various application areas. There are already trained and openly available general purpose convolutional neural networks which can be used as an initial version for specific applications. A number of different image datasets are also available for research and industrial purposes. The InceptionV3 Neural Network architecture was used to tailored to determine whether a mask is being worn or not using transfer learning techniques, and convolutional neural networks. A variational autoencoder has also been trained to normalize the dataset with respect to skin colour, angle of the head and among other parameters. This paper describes the implementation of a mask recognition software using transfer learning, a convolutional neural network and a variational autoencoder.