An eye detecting device comprises an image input section (21) for acquiring a face image, an eyelid edge labeling section (24) for detecting upper eyelid candidates and lower eyelid candidates meeting predetermined conditions of the upper or lower eyelids from the face image, and an eyelid judging section (27) for comparing combinations of the upper and lower eyelid candidates and judging the combination of upper and lower eyelid candidates whose relation most matches the predetermined condition as the upper and lower eyelids. The eyelid edge labeling section (24) classifies the upper and lower eyelid candidates according to the degree of matching the horizontal and vertical edges calculated by an edge calculating section (23) with the predetermined condition. A lower eyelid candidate evaluating section (26) may be provided for excluding a lower eyelid candidate if it has at least one horizontal edge in the horizontal direction of the lower eyelid candidate. A lower eyelid candidate judging section (25) may also be provided for judging a lower eyelid candidate having a vertical edge not meeting the predetermined condition as a lower eyelid preliminary candidate.
EYE DETECTING DEVICE, EYE DETECTING METHOD, AND PROGRAM