A gesture recognition apparatus for detecting a gesture from an acquired image and generating for an object device an instruction corresponding to the gesture, the gesture recognition apparatus comprising: an image acquiring unit configured to acquire an image; an object part extracting unit configured to extract a hand of a human performing a gesture as an object part from the acquired image; an object part shape identifying unit configured to acquire a number of finger(s) that is/are extended in the object part and to identify a shape of the extracted object part based on the number of finger(s); a representative point determining unit configured to set, with respect to the object part, a representative point that is a point representing a position of the object part; a gesture recognizing unit configured to recognize a gesture, based on a motion of the representative point; and a command generating unit configured to generate an instruction corresponding to the recognized gesture, wherein the representative point determining unit is adapted to determine a position of the representative point corresponding to the object part using different predefined positions where the representative point is to be set depending on the number of fingers that is/are extended, the gesture recognition apparatus being characterized in that the representative point determining unit is adapted to set the representative point to a center of gravity of a fist in case of the number of fingers being 0, to a fingertip of a raised finger in case of the number of fingers being 1, to a midpoint between fingertips of two raised fingers in case of the number of fingers being 2, to a fingertip of a middle finger among three raised fingers in case of the number of fingers being 3, and to a center of gravity of palm of hand in case of the number of fingers being 4 or 5. an image acquiring unit configured to acquire an image; an object part extracting unit configured to extract a hand of a human performing a gesture as an object part from the acquired image; an object part shape identifying unit configured to acquire a number of finger(s) that is/are extended in the object part and to identify a shape of the extracted object part based on the number of finger(s); a representative point determining unit configured to set, with respect to the object part, a representative point that is a point representing a position of the object part; a gesture recognizing unit configured to recognize a gesture, based on a motion of the representative point; and a command generating unit configured to generate an instruction corresponding to the recognized gesture, wherein the representative point determining unit is adapted to determine a position of the representative point corresponding to the object part using different predefined positions where the representative point is to be set depending on the number of fingers that is/are extended, the gesture recognition apparatus being characterized in that the representative point determining unit is adapted to set the representative point to a center of gravity of a fist in case of the number of fingers being 0, to a fingertip of a raised finger in case of the number of fingers being 1, to a midpoint between fingertips of two raised fingers in case of the number of fingers being 2, to a fingertip of a middle finger among three raised fingers in case of the number of fingers being 3, and to a center of gravity of palm of hand in case of the number of fingers being 4 or 5.