Image processing apparatus and material information obtainment method

A material information obtainment method comprising:

• obtaining multiple captured images resulting from using a polarizing camera to capture a target object while causing, for at least any one of the target object and a light source, an angle with respect to an image capturing surface or a state of the light source to differ;
• obtaining a degree of polarization of an image of the target object in each of the captured images;
• using a captured image selected on a basis of the degree of polarization or an image obtained from the captured image to estimate material information regarding the target object;
• and
• calculating final material information by performing a weighted average using weights determined based the degrees of polarization of a plurality of captured images used in estimating the material information regarding the target object.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing one or more computer programs causing a computer to realize:

• by a captured image obtainment unit, obtaining multiple captured images resulting from using a polarizing camera to capture a target object while causing, for at least any one of the target object and a light source, an angle with respect to an image capturing surface or a state of the light source to differ;
• by a polarization degree obtainment unit, obtaining a degree of polarization of an image of the target object in each of the captured images;
• and
• by a material information estimation unit, (1) using a captured image selected on a basis of the degree of polarization or an image obtained from the captured image to estimate material information regarding the target object and (2) calculating final material information by performing a weighted average using weights determined based the degrees of polarization of a plurality of captured images used in estimating the material information regarding the target object.