An information processing apparatus includes: a role storage unit that stores therein motion information concerning a motion of a user and a role of the user in a manner associated with each other; a detecting unit that detects a motion of a user; a determining unit that determines a role corresponding to motion information concerning a motion of a user detected by the detecting unit, based on the role storage unit; and an operation authorization unit that gives a user operating authority for an execution target device to be instructed to perform an operation by a predetermined motion of the user, the operating authority corresponding to a role of the user determined by the determining unit.