Patent ID: 8538172

Claim:
An image recognition apparatus comprising: a classifying unit comprising a plurality of classifiers, the plurality of classifiers being configured to be sensitive to images respectively having different specific patterns; an applying unit configured to successively select specific classifiers from the plurality of classifiers, and apply the selected specific classifiers in sequence to an object image; a score calculating unit configured to calculate, each time one of the selected specific classifiers is applied to the object image, a summation of an output of at least one classifier already applied to the object image, the output of the at least one classifier being weighed by a corresponding weight; a distribution calculating unit configured to calculate, each time one of the selected specific classifiers is applied to the object image, a predicted distribution of an acquisition score that would be obtained if at least one unapplied classifier from the plurality of classifiers, were applied to the object image, the acquisition score being a summation of an output of the at least one unapplied classifier; and a judging unit configured to judge, based on the predicted distribution, whether to terminate an application of the at least one unapplied classifier to the object image by the applying unit; wherein the at least one unapplied classifier is provided in a plurality of unapplied classifiers, the distribution calculating unit is configured to calculate an individual predicted distribution for each of the plurality of unapplied classifiers, and calculate at least one of an expectation value and a variance of the predicted distribution of the acquisition score by integrating the individual predicted distributions for the plurality of unapplied classifiers, and the applying unit is configured to select one of the plurality of unapplied classifiers to be next applied to the object image, the one of the plurality of unapplied classifiers to be next applied having the highest variance in the plurality of unapplied classifiers.