Evaluating Facial Expression Recognition Datasets for Deep Learning: A Benchmark Study with Novel Similarity Metrics

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Gaya-Morey, F. Xavier, Manresa-Yee, Cristina, Martinie, Célia, Buades-Rubio, Jose M.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Gaya-Morey, F. Xavier
Manresa-Yee, Cristina
Martinie, Célia
Buades-Rubio, Jose M.
author_facet Gaya-Morey, F. Xavier
Manresa-Yee, Cristina
Martinie, Célia
Buades-Rubio, Jose M.
contents This study investigates the key characteristics and suitability of widely used Facial Expression Recognition (FER) datasets for training deep learning models. In the field of affective computing, FER is essential for interpreting human emotions, yet the performance of FER systems is highly contingent on the quality and diversity of the underlying datasets. To address this issue, we compiled and analyzed 24 FER datasets, including those targeting specific age groups such as children, adults, and the elderly, and processed them through a comprehensive normalization pipeline. In addition, we enriched the datasets with automatic annotations for age and gender, enabling a more nuanced evaluation of their demographic properties. To further assess dataset efficacy, we introduce three novel metricsLocal, Global, and Paired Similarity, which quantitatively measure dataset difficulty, generalization capability, and cross-dataset transferability. Benchmark experiments using state-of-the-art neural networks reveal that large-scale, automatically collected datasets (e.g., AffectNet, FER2013) tend to generalize better, despite issues with labeling noise and demographic biases, whereas controlled datasets offer higher annotation quality but limited variability. Our findings provide actionable recommendations for dataset selection and design, advancing the development of more robust, fair, and effective FER systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_20428
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Evaluating Facial Expression Recognition Datasets for Deep Learning: A Benchmark Study with Novel Similarity Metrics
Gaya-Morey, F. Xavier
Manresa-Yee, Cristina
Martinie, Célia
Buades-Rubio, Jose M.
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Artificial Intelligence
This study investigates the key characteristics and suitability of widely used Facial Expression Recognition (FER) datasets for training deep learning models. In the field of affective computing, FER is essential for interpreting human emotions, yet the performance of FER systems is highly contingent on the quality and diversity of the underlying datasets. To address this issue, we compiled and analyzed 24 FER datasets, including those targeting specific age groups such as children, adults, and the elderly, and processed them through a comprehensive normalization pipeline. In addition, we enriched the datasets with automatic annotations for age and gender, enabling a more nuanced evaluation of their demographic properties. To further assess dataset efficacy, we introduce three novel metricsLocal, Global, and Paired Similarity, which quantitatively measure dataset difficulty, generalization capability, and cross-dataset transferability. Benchmark experiments using state-of-the-art neural networks reveal that large-scale, automatically collected datasets (e.g., AffectNet, FER2013) tend to generalize better, despite issues with labeling noise and demographic biases, whereas controlled datasets offer higher annotation quality but limited variability. Our findings provide actionable recommendations for dataset selection and design, advancing the development of more robust, fair, and effective FER systems.
title Evaluating Facial Expression Recognition Datasets for Deep Learning: A Benchmark Study with Novel Similarity Metrics
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.20428