Patent ID: 8570371

Claim:
An object tracking apparatus that tracks an object in a time-series image including a plurality of frames, the object tracking apparatus comprising: a positional relationship determining unit that determines a positional relationship between the object and an analog having a feature similar to that of the object in an earlier frame of a current frame; an object position specifying unit that specifies a position of the object in the current frame; an analog position specifying unit that specifies a position of the analog in the current frame when the analog exists in a surrounding region that is of a predetermined region around the object; and an object feature quantity producing unit that extracts characteristic information on the object from the image of the current frame, and produces a characteristic object feature quality of the object by using the extracted characteristic information on the object, wherein the object position specifying unit predicts the position of the object in the current frame to specify the position of the object based on the position of the object and a motional state of the object in an earlier frame when the positional relationship is in a first state, the object position specifying unit searches the object from an image of the current frame to specify the position of the object when the positional relationship is not in the first state, the object position specifying unit searches the object from the image of the current frame to specify the position of the object by using the object feature quantity in an earlier frame, and the analog position specifying unit searches the analog from the image of the current frame to specify the position of the analog in the current frame by using the object feature quantity.