A photographed image acquiring section 50 acquires data associated with a polarized image obtained through photographing of an object from an imaging apparatus 12, and stores the data in an image data storing section 52. A polarized image processing section 58 of a real space recognizing section 54 obtains distributions of degrees of polarization or normal vectors in an image plane by using the polarized image. A shadow area specifying section 60 specifies an area having peculiarity in the distribution of the degrees of polarization or the normal vectors in an image representing one surface of a subject as an area of a shadow. A state specifying section 62 acquires information associated with a state of a real object or the shadow in the real space on the basis of the area of the image of the shadow. An output data generating section 56 executes information processing by using state information in the real space, and outputs a processing result.