In computer vision and in robotics, pose refers to the 3D orientation of a specific object depicted in an image or set of images. It can also be applied to the orientation of a living being or parts of a living being, e.g., head or hands.

The pose can be described by means of a rotation transformation which brings the object from a reference pose to the observed pose. This rotation transformation can be represented in different ways, e.g., as a rotation matrix or a quaternion.

In some applications, pose may refer to the complete transformation, also including translation, of an object from a reference pose to its observed pose. In this case a transformation on homogeneous coordinates can be used.

If a vision based system should be able to manipulate the object, e.g., pick it up, pose estimation is a necessary task to be solved by the system. This can be done in different ways depending on the image sensor configuration, and choice of methodology.

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