Secure and Decentralized Hybrid Multi-Face Recognition for IoT Applications

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 25; no. 18; p. 5880
• Main Authors: Abdullahu, Erëza, Wache, Holger, Piangerelli, Marco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 19.09.2025
• Subjects: Architecture; Datasets; Internet of Things; Support vector machines; hybrid model; security; sensors; decentralization; edge AI; multi face-recognition; convolutional neural networks; Internet of Things
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s25185880

The proliferation of smart environments and Internet of Things (IoT) applications has intensified the demand for efficient, privacy-preserving multi-face recognition systems. Conventional centralized systems suffer from latency, scalability, and security vulnerabilities. This paper presents a practical hybrid multi-face recognition framework designed for decentralized IoT deployments. Our approach leverages a pre-trained Convolutional Neural Network (VGG16) for robust feature extraction and a Support Vector Machine (SVM) for lightweight classification, enabling real-time recognition on resource-constrained devices such as IoT cameras and Raspberry Pi boards. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of a lightweight hybrid system for decentralized multi-face recognition, specifically tailored to the constraints and requirements of IoT applications. The system is validated on a custom dataset of 20 subjects collected under varied lighting conditions and facial expressions, achieving an average accuracy exceeding 95% while simultaneously recognizing multiple faces. Experimental results demonstrate the system’s potential for real-world applications in surveillance, access control, and smart home environments. The proposed architecture minimizes computational load, reduces dependency on centralized servers, and enhances privacy, offering a promising step toward scalable edge AI solutions.