Image processing apparatus, feature map generating apparatus, learning model generation apparatus, image processing method, and computer-readable recording medium

An image processing method comprising:

• generating a first feature map that specifies horizontal locations of people in an image in a horizontal direction and a second feature map that specifies vertical locations of the people in the image in a vertical direction,
• using locations of joints detected in the image in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, the first feature map, and the second feature map, to group each of the joints to corresponding people, among the people,
• wherein the generating the first feature map comprises generating, as the first feature map, a map that is composed of the same number of pixels as the pixels constituting the image, and assigns numerical values of the people in the horizontal direction to each of the pixels in areas corresponding to the people,
• wherein the generating the second feature map comprises generating, as the second feature map, a map that is composed of the same number of pixels as the pixels constituting the image, and assigns numerical values of the people in the vertical direction to each of the pixels in areas corresponding to the people, and
• wherein the method further comprises:
• specifying, for the joints detected from the image, for each of the people in the image, the numerical value of the pixel corresponding to the joint in the first feature map and the numerical value of the pixel corresponding to the joint in the second feature map;
• calculating, for the joints detected from the image, for each of the people in the image, a distance between the joint and a corresponding person, by using the two numerical values specified, the numerical value indicating the location of the corresponding person in the horizontal direction, and the numerical value indicating the location of the corresponding person in the vertical direction;
• and
• determining, for the joints detected from the image, the corresponding person corresponding to the joint based on the calculated distance, and groups based on the determination result.

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium that includes a program, the program including instructions that cause a computer to carry out:

• generating a first feature map that specifies horizontal locations of people in an image in a horizontal direction and a second feature map that specifies vertical locations of the people in the image in a vertical direction,
• using locations of joints detected in the image in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, the first feature map, and the second feature map, to group each of the joints to corresponding people, among the people,
• wherein the generating the first feature map comprises generating, as the first feature map, a map that is composed of the same number of pixels as the pixels constituting the image, and assigns numerical values of the people in the horizontal direction to each of the pixels in areas corresponding to the people,
• wherein the generating the second feature map comprises generating, as the second feature map, a map that is composed of the same number of pixels as the pixels constituting the image, and assigns numerical values of the people in the vertical direction to each of the pixels in areas corresponding to the people, and
• wherein the program further includes instructions that cause the computer to carry out:
• specifying, for the joints detected from the image, for each of the people in the image, the numerical value of the pixel corresponding to the joint in the first feature map and the numerical value of the pixel corresponding to the joint in the second feature map;
• calculating, for the joints detected from the image, for each of the people in the image, a distance between the joint and a corresponding person, by using the two numerical values specified, the numerical value indicating the location of the corresponding person in the horizontal direction, and the numerical value indicating the location of the corresponding person in the vertical direction;
• and
• determining, for the joints detected from the image, the corresponding person corresponding to the joint based on the calculated distance, and groups based on the determination result.