Collation/retrieval system, collation/retrieval server, image feature extraction apparatus, collation/retrieval method, and program

A collation/retrieval system collating a product produced by or delivered from a producer or a distributor with a product to be collated for retrieval, comprising:

• a storage that stores, while a predetermined section formed into the same pattern for every product is set to a reference section and a recessed portion existing at a standard position relative to the reference section of the product is set to a collation area, an image feature in the collation area of the product;
• a to-be-collated product feature extraction unit that receives an image of a product to be collated, detects from the received image the reference section of the product to be collated, and thereby extracts an image feature of the collation area of the reference section;
• and
• a collation/retrieval unit that collates the stored image feature with the image feature of the collation area of the product to be collated.

A collation/retrieval method comprising:

• setting a predetermined section formed into the same pattern for every product to a reference section;
• setting a recessed portion existing at a standard position relative to the reference section to a collation area;
• and
• using an image feature in the collation area of the product for collation/retrieval.