An intrepid user discovered yesterday that the Face Detection algorithms used in Apple’s new iPhoto`09 are based on products from Omron.

He disassembled the app using OTX, a developer tool based on Apple’s otool, and found the areas of the software related to facial recognition. There, the string “OKAO” appeared, including in the “FaceRecognitionManager” object.

OKAO Vision is a product from Japanese firm Omron Global that — hey hey — recognizes faces and their various features. Does the face have big eyes? Are they in trouble? What is the person looking at? The transliteration “okao” apparently means “face” in Japanese, according to their website.

While not earth-shattering news, it’s a good insight into how face recognition works in iPhoto, and could be a good starting point for others looking to integrate similar functionality into other tools.

via iPhoto ’09 uses face detection package from Omron – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).