Method and apparatus for determining movement

1. A movement determining method comprising:

acquiring, by an information processing apparatus, a first distance between a head of a person and a reference position and a second distance between a neck of the person and the reference position, the person appearing in an image captured by an image capturing device, the first distance being acquired as a value corresponding to a pixel of the image where the head appears, the second distance being acquired as a value corresponding to a pixel of the image where the neck appears, the reference position being a position where the image capturing device is located; and

determining, by the information processing apparatus, an orientation of the person with respect to the reference position on the basis of a comparison result between the first distance and the second distance.

2. The movement determining method according to claim 1 , wherein

the movement determining method further includes selecting, by the information processing apparatus, one or more set regions on which a predetermined process is to be executed, from a plurality of set regions set on the image, on the basis of the determined orientation of the person.

3. The movement determining method according to claim 2 , wherein

the predetermined process is a process, by the information processing apparatus, to determine whether a hand of the person is included in the selected one or more set regions, on the basis of a coordinate of the hand on the image.

4. The movement determining method according to claim 3 , wherein

at least one of the set regions is set on an object present at a far side of the person in relation to the image capturing device, and

the selecting includes excluding at least the set region set on the object present at the far side of the person, from the set regions on which the predetermined process is to be executed, when the information processing apparatus determines that the person does not face in an opposite direction to the image capturing device.

5. The movement determining method according to claim 2 , wherein

the determining includes determining the orientation of the person, using a value obtained by correcting at least one of the acquired first distance and the second distance on the basis of an angle between an image capturing direction of the image capturing device and a horizontal plane.

6. The movement determining method according to claim 1 , wherein

the determining includes determining whether the person faces in a direction toward the reference position or in an opposite direction to the reference position, on the basis of the comparison result between the first distance and the second distance.

7. A movement determining apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to perform a process including:

acquiring a first distance between a head of a person and a reference position, and a second distance between a neck of the person and the reference position, the person appearing in an image captured by an image capturing device, the first distance being acquired as a value corresponding to a pixel of the image where the head appears, the second distance being acquired as a value corresponding to a pixel of the image where the neck appears, the reference position being a position where the image capturing device is located; and

determining an orientation of the person with respect to the reference position on the basis of a comparison result between the first distance and the second distance.

8. The movement determining apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein

the process further includes selecting one or more set regions on which a predetermined process is to be executed, from a plurality of set regions set on the image, on the basis of the determined orientation of the person.

9. The movement determining apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein

the predetermined process is a process to determine whether a hand of the person is included in the selected one or more set regions, on the basis of a coordinate of the hand in the image.

10. The movement determining apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein

at least one of the set regions is set on an object present at a far side of the person in relation to the image capturing device, and

the selecting includes excluding at least the set region set on the object present at the far side of the person, from the set regions on which the predetermined process is to be executed, when the processor determines that the person does not face in an opposite direction to the image capturing device.

11. The movement determining apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein

the determining includes determining the orientation of the person, using a value obtained by correcting at least one of the acquired first distance and the second distance on the basis of an angle between an image capturing direction of the image capturing device and a horizontal plane.

12. The movement determining apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein

the determining includes determining whether the person faces in a direction toward the reference position or in an opposite direction to the reference position, on the basis of the comparison result between the first distance and the second distance.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that causes a computer to perform a process comprising:

acquiring a first distance between a head of a person and a reference position, and a second distance between a neck of the person and the reference position, the person appearing in an image captured by an image capturing device, the first distance being acquired as a value corresponding to a pixel of the image where the head appears, the second distance being acquired as a value corresponding to a pixel of the image where the neck appears, the reference position being a position where the image capturing device is located; and

determining an orientation of the person with respect to the reference position on the basis of a comparison result between the first distance and the second distance.

14. The movement determining method according to claim 1 , wherein

the first distance and the second distance are specified on the basis of depth information measured by using a depth sensor.

15. The movement determining method according to claim 1 , wherein

the determining includes determining whether the person faces in a direction toward the reference position or in an opposite direction to the reference position, on the basis of a determination result of whether the first distance is shorter than the second distance.