Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and non-transitory storage medium

An image processing method comprising, performed by a computer and comprising:

• acquiring a plurality of query image candidates;
• detecting, for each query image candidate, a two-dimensional skeletal structure of a person included in the each query image candidate;
• computing, for each query image candidate, an evaluation value, based on the two-dimensional skeletal structure of the person included in the each query image candidate, the evaluation value of each query image candidate indicating an extent to which a feature value computable from the each query image candidate is indicative of a pose of the person;
• selecting, from among the query image candidates, a query image to be used for image search, based on the evaluation value computed for each query image candidate;
• computing a feature value of the two-dimensional skeletal structure of the person included in the query image candidate selected as the query image;
• and
• performing the image search by retrieving, from among a plurality of images, a target image including a feature value with a highest degree of similarity to the computed feature value, as a target image including a pose most similar to the pose of the person in the query image candidate selected as the query image,
• wherein the evaluation value of each query image candidate is computed by calculating a height pixel count of a standing person in the each query image candidate, and normalizing the calculated height pixel count to yield the evaluation value.

A non-transitory storage medium storing a program executable by a computer to:

• acquire a plurality of query image candidates;
• detect, for each query image candidate, a two-dimensional skeletal structure of a person included in the each query image candidate;
• compute, for each query image candidate, an evaluation value, based on the two-dimensional skeletal structure of the person included in the each query image candidate, the evaluation value of each query image candidate indicating an extent to which a feature value computable from the each query image candidate is indicative of a pose of the person;
• select, from among the query image candidates, a query image to be used for image search, based on the evaluation value computed for each query image candidate;
• compute a feature value of the two-dimensional skeletal structure of the person included in the query image candidate selected as the query image;
• and
• perform the image search by retrieving, from among a plurality of images, a target image including a feature value with a highest a degree of similarity to the computed feature value, as a target image including a pose most similar to the pose of the person in the query image candidate selected as the query image,
• wherein the evaluation value of each query image candidate is computed by calculating a height pixel count of a standing person in the each query image candidate, and normalizing the calculated height pixel count to yield the evaluation value.