In order to provide a curved surface model generating technique which makes use of both advantages of a modeling method by using distance image data and a modeling method by using silhouette data while photographic and measurement data from less angles are utilized, firstly a curved surface model generating section inputs 2D color image data and distance image data. When silhouette image data are extracted from the 2D color image data, initial model data are generated by the Volume Intersection method or the like. The distance image data are converted into world coordinate values by using photographing position/posture data. In a fitting processing section, a fidelity where the distance with the distance image data is used as a measure and a fidelity where the distance with the silhouette image data is used as a measure are added to be evaluated, and a curved surface is fitted to initial model data so that curve surface model data are generated.

An information processing apparatus and an information processing method adapted for representing objects of various shapes as two-dimensional graphic or three-dimensional graphic to change corresponding object so as to take various states within three-dimensional virtual space. Among prepared plural three-dimensional attitudes of object, attitude A0 is selected as reference attitude. Vectors serving as rotation axes when rotation is made from the reference attitude to attitudes A1, A2 are multiplied by their rotational angles as length, and are multiplied by weighting coefficients corresponding to an input signal inputted by allowing user to operate an input unit. Further, those vectors are synthesized to thereby synthesize (generate) vector serving as new axis of rotation. By rotating the object in the state where that vector is caused to be axis of rotation and its length is caused to be rotation angle, target attitude An is obtained.

When creating three-dimensional electronic map data, three-dimensional modeling of a building is performed as follows without measuring height of the building. Firstly, a building is photographed and the photographing position and photographing parameters (camera direction, angle of view) are recorded. Secondly, in a virtual space prepared on a computer, a photograph is arranged so as to reproduce the state upon the photographing according to these data. In combination with this, a plan view of the building is arranged according to the two-dimensional map data. Thirdly, the plan view is moved in the height direction until it is overlapped with the photograph, thereby modeling the building. Thus, it is possible to realize three-dimensional modeling without measuring the height.

The apparatus is comprised by a three-dimensional measurement device for measuring an object and generating three-dimensional data of the object; a control device for changing a position or a posture of the object; a three-dimensional position sensor for measuring a relative position or a relative posture between the three-dimensional measurement device and the object; and a computer device for integrating plural sets of three-dimensional data based on a measurement result of the three-dimensional position sensor.

In order to simply generate an accurate three-dimensional shape model, the generating method has the step (#1) of arranging a three-dimensional shape model in an initial state in a virtual space, the step (#2) of projecting points on the three-dimensional shape model onto photographed images and specifying pixels on the respective photographed images corresponding to the points, the step (#3) of evaluating scattering of pixel values of the respective pixels on the photographed images corresponding to the points on the three-dimensional shape model, and the step (#4) of deforming the three-dimensional shape model so that the scattering of the pixel values of the respective pixels becomes small.