Image processing apparatus for determining an object area where part of the object is occluded

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• at least one memory storing instructions;
• and
• at least one processor that, upon execution of the stored instructions, are configured to:
• acquire a feature point indicating a position in an image of each of a plurality of parts of an object detected from the image, and a reliability indicating a likelihood that a part correspond to the feature point;
• extract a first image feature from the image for each of the parts indicated by the feature points;
• output a second image feature indicating a feature amount specific to the object based on the reliability and the first image feature;
• and
• identify the object detected from the image and a preliminarily registered predetermined object based on a feature amount indicating the preliminarily registered predetermined object and the second feature amount.

An image processing method comprising:

• detecting, as a first detection, from an image in which an object including a plurality of parts is captured, first feature points corresponding to the parts of the object;
• acquiring a reliability indicating a likelihood that a position indicated by a feature point is a part corresponding to the feature point for each of the first feature points detected in the first detection;
• detecting, as a second detection, a second feature point based on some of the first feature points for a part corresponding to the first feature point with the low reliability;
• and
• determining an area including the object based on some of the first feature points and the second feature point.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute an image processing method, the image processing method comprising:

• detecting, as a first detection, from an image in which an object including a plurality of parts is captured, first feature points corresponding to the parts of the object;
• acquiring a reliability indicating a likelihood that a position indicated by a feature point is a part corresponding to the feature point for each of the first feature points detected in the first detection;
• detecting, as a second detection, a second feature point based on some of the first feature points for a part corresponding to the first feature point with the low reliability;
• and
• determining an area including the object based on some of the first feature points and the second feature point.