In the field of man-machine interaction technologies, a gesture-based object measurement method and apparatus, which are used to improve measurement efficiency. According to this method, after image information is collected, contour information of a to-be-measured object is automatically extracted and partitioned off, and a measurement parameter value such as a length, an area, or a volume is calculated on this basis. In this way, not only real-time online measurement is implemented, a measurement process is simpler, and more convenient, visual, and effective, and augmented reality (AR) measurement efficiency can be improved, but also the measurement process is more harmonious and natural, and closer to a human intention, and a measurement result is more accurate.