Image analysis apparatus, method, and program

An image analysis apparatus comprising:

• a processor configured with a program to perform operations comprising:
• operation as a search unit configured to perform processing of detecting an image area comprising an object to be detected in units of frames from a temporally input image;
• operation as a reliability detector configured to detect a reliability indicating likelihood of an image area comprising the object to be detected, detected by the search unit for each of the frames;
• and
• operation as a search controller configured to control an operation of the search unit based on the reliability detected by the reliability detector,
• wherein the processor is configured with the program such that operation as the search controller comprises operation as the search controller that performs operations comprising:
• operation as a first determination unit configured to determine whether a first reliability detected by the reliability detector in a first frame satisfies a preset first determination condition;
• operation as a first controller configured to hold position information of an image area detected by the search unit in the first frame, and configured to control the search unit such that the detection processing is performed taking the held position information of the image area as an area to be detected in a subsequent second frame, in response to the first reliability being determined to satisfy the first determination condition;
• operation as a second determination unit configured to determine whether a second reliability, detected by the reliability detector in the second frame, satisfies a second determination condition that is more relaxed than the first determination condition in response to the second reliability being determined not to satisfy the first determination condition;
• operation as a second controller configured to continue holding of the position information of the image area detected in the first frame, and configured to control the search unit such that the detection processing is performed taking the position information of the image area as an area to be detected in a subsequent third frame, in response to the second reliability being determined to satisfy the second determination condition;
• and
• operation as a third controller configured to cancel holding of the position information of the image area, and configured to control the search unit such that processing of detecting an image area comprising the object to be detected is newly performed, in response to the second reliability being determined not to satisfy the second determination condition.