Patent ID: 8879802

Claim:
An image processing apparatus comprising a processor for controlling: a face detection unit configured to periodically perform face detection processing of detecting a face area of a person from an image; an authentication unit configured to perform personal authentication processing for the face area detected by said face detection unit; and a calculation unit configured to calculate a determination criteria to select a face area as a target of the personal authentication processing from the face areas detected by said face detection unit, wherein said calculation unit calculates, as the determination criteria, at least one of a size, a tilt, a direction, a facial expression, and a motion of the face area detected by said face detection unit, wherein, when said face detection unit detects a plurality of face areas corresponding to the same person from a plurality of images, the authentication unit selects a target face area complying with the determination criteria calculated by said calculation unit from the plurality of face areas of the same person detected from the plurality of images as the target of the personal authentication processing and performs personal authentication processing for the selected target face area to authenticate the person corresponding to the selected target face area.