Pedometer device, step counting method, and recording medium

A pedometer device in conjunction with a sensor being worn by a user, the device comprising:

• an acquiring unit that acquires a sensor signal output by the sensor carried by a user;
• an estimating unit that estimates a time period during which the user apparently has made a walking motion by detecting when substantially the same values are observed for the sensor signal, the time period being an estimated period during which the user apparently has walked a predetermined number of steps;
• an extracting unit that extracts a feature quantity occurring in the estimated time period from the sensor signal;
• a storage unit that stores a walking model which represents walking motions and a non-walking model which represents non-walking motions, the walking model being formed based on a feature quantity extracted from a sensor signal corresponding to a predetermined number of steps of walking, and the non-walking model being formed based on a feature quantity extracted from a sensor signal corresponding to a non-walking motion:
• a comparing unit that compares the feature quantity extracted at the extracting unit with the walking model and compares the feature quantity extracted at the extracting unit with the non-walking model:
• and
• a deciding unit that decides whether the user has walked a predetermined number of steps, based on a result of the comparison performed by the comparing unit.