Image processing apparatus, object recognition apparatus, equipment control system, image processing method, and computer-readable recording medium

An image processing method comprising:

• extracting a first region in which an object is represented, from a distance image that is drawn using distance information, based on the distance information of the object calculated from an image of the object captured by image capturing;
• extracting a contour direction that is a direction along which pixels forming a contour of the first region are arrayed;
• and
• detecting a first surface facing the image capturing unit from the first region, based on the extracted contour directions.

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium that contains a computer program that causes a computer to function as:

• first extracting circuitry configured to extract a first region in which an object is represented, from a distance image that is drawn using distance information, based on the distance information of the object calculated from an image of the object captured by an image capturing circuitry;
• second extracting circuitry configured to extract a contour direction that is a direction along which pixels forming a contour of the first region are arrayed;
• and
• detecting circuitry configured to detect a first surface facing the image capturing circuitry from the first region, based on the contour direction extracted by the second extracting circuitry.