Apple has been granted a new patent for a software that lets users take group selfies while maintaining social distance. Technically speaking, the patent filing is for a software that generates “synthetic group selfies”. However, it will solve for selfies during social distancing as well.
Based on the patent filings we can see that the software will allow a user to invite others to be a part of a selfie. The software will then arrange multiple invitees into a group selfie. Apparently, the selfie can include stored images and videos, or live streamed images. Moreover, users will be able to save the selfie, edit it, or even change their position in the selfie afterwards.
When you are invited to be a part of a group selfie, you will get a notification asking you if you want to join. A design for this can be seen in the screenshot below taken from the patent filing.
As mentioned earlier, the patent filing isn’t aimed at solving socially distant selfies. In fact, as The Verge reports, the filing was made back in 2018. That’s long before Coronavirus or social distancing were a thing. However, the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple the patent on June 2, and it does seem like a solution to group selfies in the post-COVID era as well. Also, since this is just a patent, there’s no guarantee that Apple will ever actually bring this as a feature on any of its products.
