Patent ID: 7590286

Claim:
An image recognition apparatus for recognizing movements of players matched against each other between domains partitioned with such an obstacle as net in a sport match or game from contents including a television program being telecasted to show the sport match or game, an image material in an uncompleted state for broadcasting and contents recorded in such a recording medium as a VTR, the image recognition apparatus comprising: a score information obtaining section obtaining score information indicative of scores of the respective players which vary as the sport match or game proceeds; a play event information obtaining section obtaining and recognizing play event information including characteristic movements of each of the players from picture information included in the contents, the picture information containing images of the obstacle and the players, and the score information displayed on a screen; and an image substance recognizing section making a comparison between a score information item obtained immediately before a point in time of generation of the play event information and a score information item obtained immediately after the point in time and make reference to a result brought by the play event information, thereby recognizing a substance of an image provided by the play event information.