2D Human Pose Estimation with Deep Learning: A Review

Two-dimensional human pose estimation (2D HPE) has become a fundamental task in computer vision, driven by growing demands in intelligent surveillance, sports analytics, and healthcare. The rapid advancement of deep learning has led to the development of numerous methods. However, the resulting diversity in research directions and model architectures has made systematic assessment and comparison difficult. This review presents a comprehensive overview of recent advances in 2D HPE, focusing on method classification, technical evolution, and performance evaluation. We classify mainstream approaches by task type (single-person vs. multi-person), output strategy (regression vs. heatmap), and architectural design (top-down vs. bottom-up) and analyze their respective strengths, limitations, and application scenarios. Additionally, we summarize commonly used evaluation metrics and benchmark datasets such as MPII, COCO, LSP, OCHuman, and CrowdPose. A major contribution of this review is the detailed comparison of the top six models on each benchmark, highlighting their network architectures, input resolutions, evaluation results, and key innovations. In light of current challenges, we also outline future research directions, including model compression, occlusion handling, and cross-domain generalization. This review serves as a valuable reference for researchers seeking both foundational insights and practical guidance in 2D human pose estimation.