Image processing device and elevator mounting it thereon

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• a TV camera installed to pick up an image of an outside of a compartment proximate a door which separates an inside of the compartment from the outside of the compartment;
• a face area extraction unit which detects a position of a person's face area in the image picked-up by the TV camera;
• a wheelchair area estimation unit which estimates a wheelchair area corresponding to an approximate position of a wheelchair and which uses the face area position detected when the person is assumed to be in a wheelchair;
• and
• a wheelchair existence judgment unit which judges whether a wheelchair exists in the image from the wheelchair area estimated.

An elevator including image processing apparatus, the image processing apparatus comprising:

• a TV camera installed to pick up an image of an outside of an elevator from proximate a door which separates the outside from an inside of the elevator;
• a face area extraction unit which detects a position of a person's face area in the image picked-up by the TV camera;
• a wheelchair area estimation unit which estimates a desired area corresponding to an approximate position of a wheelchair and which uses the face area position detected when the person is assumed to be in a wheelchair;
• and
• a wheelchair existence judgment unit which judges whether a wheelchair exists in the image from the wheelchair area estimated, wherein the TV camera photographs a passenger from proximate the door of the elevator, and information obtained by the wheelchair existence judgment unit is input into a control unit of the elevator.