State-of-posture estimation device and state-of-posture estimation method

A posture state estimation apparatus that estimates a posture state of an object comprising a plurality of parts based on image data of the object, the posture state estimation apparatus comprising:

• a part candidate extraction section that extracts a first part candidate from the image data, the first part candidate being a candidate for the parts;
• a complement part candidate extraction section that determines a complement candidate region based on the first part candidate and constraint information regarding a part of the object, and extracts a second part candidate from the image data within the bounds of the complement candidate region;
• and
• an estimation section that estimates the posture state of the object based on the first part candidate and the second part candidate.

A posture state estimation method that estimates a posture state of an object comprising a plurality of parts based on image data of the object, wherein:

• extracting, by a part candidate extraction section, a first part candidate from the image data, the first part candidate being a candidate for the parts;
• determining, by a complement part candidate extraction section, a complement candidate region based on the first part candidate and constraint information regarding a part of the object, and extracts a second part candidate from the image data within the bounds of the complement candidate region;
• and
• estimating, by an estimation section, the posture state of the object based on the first part candidate and the second part candidate.