Image-Based Cat (Felis Catus) Facial Expression Recognition Using YOLOv8n

Authors

  • Atanasius Manurip Informatika, Universitas Informatika dan Bisnis Indonesia
  • Marwondo Marwondo Informatika, Universitas Informatika dan Bisnis Indonesia
  • Venia Restreva Danestiara Informatika, Universitas Informatika dan Bisnis Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37278/sisinfo.v8i1.1493

Keywords:

Cat Expression, Computer Vision, Image-based Recognition, YOLO

Abstract

Cats (Felis catus) express emotional states through subtle facial cues that are often difficult for owners to interpret accurately. Automated recognition systems can provide objective analysis of these expressions using computer vision techniques. This study proposes an image-based cat facial expression recognition system using the YOLOv8n architecture. A dataset of 794 images was collected and expanded to 3,279 images through data augmentation. Four expression classes were defined based on CatFACS and related frameworks: normal-netral, senang-afiliatif, stres-takut, and marah-agonistik. The model was trained using a 70:20:10 split for training, validation, and testing. Experimental results show an overall mAP50 of 0.728, with the highest performance achieved in the senang-afiliatif class (0.773). However, the marah-agonistik class could not be reliably detected due to severe class imbalance in the dataset, indicating that the current model remains insufficient for recognizing anger expressions in cats. Precision and recall reached 0.939 and 0.94 respectively, indicating reliable detection under confident predictions. The trained model was successfully integrated into a Gradio-based dashboard for real-time expression recognition. These results demonstrate the feasibility of lightweight YOLOv8n for feline facial expression recognition while highlighting that accurate detection of marah-agonistik expressions requires a more diverse and balanced dataset in future research.

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Published

2026-04-16

How to Cite

Manurip, A., Marwondo, M., & Danestiara, V. R. (2026). Image-Based Cat (Felis Catus) Facial Expression Recognition Using YOLOv8n. SISINFO : Jurnal Sistem Informasi Dan Informatika, 8(1), 77–85. https://doi.org/10.37278/sisinfo.v8i1.1493

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Vol. 8 No. 1 (2026): SisInfo

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Copyright (c) 2026 Atanasius Manurip, Marwondo Marwondo, Venia Restreva Danestiara

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