NeuroFace

Experimental — This is an experimental project for learning and demonstration purposes.

Overview

NeuroFace is a facial recognition and object detection web application built with FastAPI (Python) and Angular 17, containerized with Red Hat UBI9 certified images for OpenShift. It supports:

Face Detection Engines (switchable at runtime):

• OpenCV Haar Cascades (default) — Local CPU-based detection, no external dependencies
• OpenVINO Model Server — Remote AI inference via OpenShift AI / ModelMesh using face-detection-retail-0005

Recognition Models (applied after detection):

• OpenCV LBPH (default) — Local Binary Patterns Histograms, fast and lightweight
• dlib (optional) — 128-dimensional face encodings via the face_recognition library

Object Detection:

• YOLOv4-tiny — 80 COCO classes pre-trained, via OpenCV DNN

What’s New in v1.2.0

• Object Detection module — YOLOv4-tiny with 80 COCO pre-trained classes (person, car, dog, chair, bottle, laptop, cell phone, and 73 more)
• Multi-person face grid — Simultaneous display for 3+ detected faces with individual face crops
• Enhanced AI Chat — Now includes object detection context and OpenVINO model info when analyzing images
• Experimental badge moved to footer only (removed from toolbar)
• New sidebar navigation includes Object Detection link

Video Demo

Screenshots

Dashboard

Object Detection (YOLOv4-tiny - 80 COCO Classes)

Live Face Recognition

AI Face Analysis Chat

OpenShift AI — Model Server

OpenShift Topology

Helm Chart Install

Helm Repository

Dashboard v1.1.0

Model Config v1.1.0

Architecture

System Overview

Face Recognition Flow

Object Detection Flow

Training Flow

AI Chat Analysis Flow

Helm Chart

Quick Start (without OpenVINO)

helm repo add neuroface https://maximilianopizarro.github.io/neuroface/
helm install neuroface neuroface/neuroface

Quick Start (with OpenVINO on OpenShift AI)

helm install neuroface neuroface/neuroface \
  --set ovms.externalUrl=http://modelmesh-serving:8008 \
  --set ovms.modelName=face-detection-retail-0005

Configuration

Deploying OpenVINO on Red Hat Developer Sandbox

This guide explains how to deploy face-detection-retail-0005 on OpenShift AI (RHOAI) in a Red Hat Developer Sandbox so that NeuroFace can use it for remote face detection.

The Helm chart includes all ModelMesh resources (ServingRuntime, PVC, Secret, download Job, InferenceService) as templates. Enable them with --set ovms.modelmesh.enabled=true for a single-command deployment.

Option A: Automated (Helm chart deploys everything)

helm repo add neuroface https://maximilianopizarro.github.io/neuroface/
helm install neuroface neuroface/neuroface \
  --set ovms.externalUrl=http://modelmesh-serving:8008 \
  --set ovms.modelName=face-detection-retail-0005 \
  --set ovms.modelmesh.enabled=true

This single command deploys:

• Frontend + Backend + PVC (training data)
• ServingRuntime — OpenVINO adapter for ModelMesh
• PVC (2Gi) — Model storage
• storage-config Secret — Tells ModelMesh to use the PVC
• Job (post-install hook) — Downloads face-detection-retail-0005 (FP16) from Intel Open Model Zoo
• InferenceService (post-install hook) — Registers the model on ModelMesh

Wait for the model download job and verify:

oc wait --for=condition=complete job/neuroface-download-model --timeout=300s
oc logs job/neuroface-download-model
oc wait --for=condition=Ready inferenceservice/face-detection-retail-0005 --timeout=300s

Option B: Manual steps (for custom setups)

If you prefer to deploy ModelMesh resources manually or your cluster needs specific configuration:

Step 1: Create the ServingRuntime

oc apply -f - <<'EOF'
apiVersion: serving.kserve.io/v1alpha1
kind: ServingRuntime
metadata:
  name: neuroface
  annotations:
    openshift.io/display-name: "NeuroFace OpenVINO Runtime"
  labels:
    opendatahub.io/dashboard: "true"
spec:
  supportedModelFormats:
    - name: openvino_ir
      version: opset1
      autoSelect: true
    - name: onnx
      version: "1"
    - name: tensorflow
      version: "2"
  multiModel: true
  grpcDataEndpoint: port:8001
  grpcEndpoint: port:8085
  containers:
    - name: ovms
      image: quay.io/modelmesh-serving/ovms-adapter:latest
      args:
        - --port=8001
        - --rest_port=8888
        - --model_store=/models
        - --grpc_bind_address=127.0.0.1
        - --rest_bind_address=127.0.0.1
      resources:
        requests:
          cpu: 500m
          memory: 3Gi
        limits:
          cpu: "2"
          memory: 3Gi
  builtInAdapter:
    serverType: ovms
    runtimeManagementPort: 8888
    memBufferBytes: 134217728
    modelLoadingTimeoutMillis: 90000
EOF

Step 2: Create PVC + Storage Secret

oc apply -f - <<'EOF'
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: neuroface-models
spec:
  accessModes: [ReadWriteOnce]
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 2Gi
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: storage-config
stringData:
  neuroface-models: |
    { "type": "pvc", "name": "neuroface-models" }
EOF

Step 3: Download the Model

oc apply -f - <<'EOF'
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
  name: download-face-model
spec:
  backoffLimit: 2
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: downloader
          image: registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9/python-311:latest
          command: ["bash", "-c"]
          args:
            - |
              pip install openvino-dev[onnx,tensorflow] > /dev/null 2>&1
              omz_downloader --name face-detection-retail-0005 --precision FP16 -o /tmp/models
              mkdir -p /models/face-detection-retail-0005/1
              cp /tmp/models/intel/face-detection-retail-0005/FP16/* /models/face-detection-retail-0005/1/
              ls -la /models/face-detection-retail-0005/1/
          volumeMounts:
            - { name: model-storage, mountPath: /models }
      volumes:
        - name: model-storage
          persistentVolumeClaim: { claimName: neuroface-models }
      restartPolicy: Never
EOF

oc wait --for=condition=complete job/download-face-model --timeout=300s

Step 4: Deploy InferenceService

oc apply -f - <<'EOF'
apiVersion: serving.kserve.io/v1beta1
kind: InferenceService
metadata:
  name: face-detection-retail-0005
  annotations:
    serving.kserve.io/deploymentMode: ModelMesh
spec:
  predictor:
    model:
      modelFormat:
        name: openvino_ir
      runtime: neuroface
      storage:
        key: neuroface-models
        path: face-detection-retail-0005
EOF

oc wait --for=condition=Ready inferenceservice/face-detection-retail-0005 --timeout=300s

Step 5: Deploy NeuroFace (without modelmesh templates)

helm install neuroface neuroface/neuroface \
  --set ovms.externalUrl=http://modelmesh-serving:8008 \
  --set ovms.modelName=face-detection-retail-0005

Verify

oc exec deployment/neuroface-backend -- \
  curl -s http://modelmesh-serving:8008/v2/models/face-detection-retail-0005

Expected:

{
  "name": "face-detection-retail-0005__isvc-...",
  "platform": "OpenVINO",
  "inputs": [{"name": "input.1", "datatype": "FP32", "shape": ["1","3","300","300"]}],
  "outputs": [{"name": "527", "datatype": "FP32", "shape": ["1","1","200","7"]}]
}

Using the UI

Dashboard

The dashboard shows the current system status:

• Model Trained badge indicates if the LBPH recognizer is trained
• OpenVINO / OpenCV chip shows the active detection method
• OVMS: connected confirms connectivity to ModelMesh
• YOLO: ready confirms the object detector is loaded

Object Detection

1. Go to Object Detection from the sidebar
2. Start the camera and enable Auto-detect to continuously detect objects

3. The module uses YOLOv4-tiny pre-trained on 80 COCO classes:

   person, bicycle, car, motorbike, aeroplane, bus, train, truck, boat, traffic light, fire hydrant, stop sign, parking meter, bench, bird, cat, dog, horse, sheep, cow, elephant, bear, zebra, giraffe, backpack, umbrella, handbag, tie, suitcase, frisbee, skis, snowboard, sports ball, kite, baseball bat, baseball glove, skateboard, surfboard, tennis racket, bottle, wine glass, cup, fork, knife, spoon, bowl, banana, apple, sandwich, orange, broccoli, carrot, hot dog, pizza, donut, cake, chair, sofa, pottedplant, bed, diningtable, toilet, tvmonitor, laptop, mouse, remote, keyboard, cell phone, microwave, oven, toaster, sink, refrigerator, book, clock, vase, scissors, teddy bear, hair drier, toothbrush

4. Detected objects are shown with bounding boxes and confidence scores
5. A summary panel shows object counts grouped by class

Live Recognition (Multi-Person)

1. Go to Recognition and start the camera
2. Enable Auto-detect for continuous detection
3. When 3+ faces are detected, individual face crops are shown in a grid below the camera
4. Each face card shows: cropped face image, identity label, confidence %, and dimensions

AI Face Analysis Chat

1. Go to AI Chat — requires LLM endpoint configuration
2. Capture an image and ask questions about faces or objects
3. The chat now includes object detection data alongside face analysis data when an image is attached
4. OpenVINO detection method info is included in the context

Training

1. Go to Training and use the fullscreen icon for distraction-free capture
2. On mobile, use the flash/torch button if you need more light
3. Enter a person name, then capture multiple images
4. Click Start Training to train the recognition model

Model Configuration

Switch between detection methods at runtime:

• Face Detection Method — switch between OpenCV (local) and OpenVINO (remote)
• Recognition Model — select LBPH or dlib

Container Images

API Endpoints (v1.2.0)

Links

• Source: github.com/maximilianoPizarro/neuroface
• Helm Chart: Artifact Hub
• Author: maximilianoPizarro
• Based on: reconocimiento-facial