An information processing apparatus, comprising: a first acquisition module comprising an image capturing device for photographing a given image capturing range, a first acquisition module being configured to acquire an image from the image capturing device; a second acquisition module comprising a distance measurement device which measures a distance to an object in the image capturing range, the second acquisition module being configured to acquire a measurement result from the distance measurement device; a segmentation module configured to segment, in the image, a region where the object exists according to the measurement result; an extraction module configured to extract a feature amount from the region; a calculation module configured to compare a feature amount of each article, registered beforehand in an information dictionary, with the feature amount extracted by the extraction module to calculate the similarity degree of the photographed object and the registered article, wherein the feature amount includes surface conditions of the object, wherein the calculation of the similarity degree comprises varying a weight of the surface conditions and wherein the information dictionary is connected to the information processing apparatus; and a recognition module configured to recognize, from the articles registered in the information dictionary, a registered article the similarity degree of which is above a threshold value as a candidate for the photographed object, characterized in that the segmentation module is configured to: extract a contour from the image and segment a region surrounded by the contour in the image, if a boundary in color between the object and the background can be detected in the image; or segment, in the image, a region where the object exists according to an existence position of an object closest to the image capturing device measured by the distance in the image capturing range from the distance measurement device, if a boundary in color between the object and the background cannot be detected in the image. a first acquisition module comprising an image capturing device for photographing a given image capturing range, a first acquisition module being configured to acquire an image from the image capturing device; a second acquisition module comprising a distance measurement device which measures a distance to an object in the image capturing range, the second acquisition module being configured to acquire a measurement result from the distance measurement device; a segmentation module configured to segment, in the image, a region where the object exists according to the measurement result; an extraction module configured to extract a feature amount from the region; a calculation module configured to compare a feature amount of each article, registered beforehand in an information dictionary, with the feature amount extracted by the extraction module to calculate the similarity degree of the photographed object and the registered article, wherein the feature amount includes surface conditions of the object, wherein the calculation of the similarity degree comprises varying a weight of the surface conditions and wherein the information dictionary is connected to the information processing apparatus; and a recognition module configured to recognize, from the articles registered in the information dictionary, a registered article the similarity degree of which is above a threshold value as a candidate for the photographed object, characterized in that the segmentation module is configured to: extract a contour from the image and segment a region surrounded by the contour in the image, if a boundary in color between the object and the background can be detected in the image; or segment, in the image, a region where the object exists according to an existence position of an object closest to the image capturing device measured by the distance in the image capturing range from the distance measurement device, if a boundary in color between the object and the background cannot be detected in the image. extract a contour from the image and segment a region surrounded by the contour in the image, if a boundary in color between the object and the background can be detected in the image; or segment, in the image, a region where the object exists according to an existence position of an object closest to the image capturing device measured by the distance in the image capturing range from the distance measurement device, if a boundary in color between the object and the background cannot be detected in the image.