Apple receives patent for software that will generate socially distant group selfies

Apple has received a patent for software that would generate “synthetic group selfies", during times when social distancing norms have been put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a report in Patently Apple, Apple users could invite others to take part in a group selfie, and the software would arrange them in a single frame. [caption id=“attachment_7696281” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] iPhone[/caption] The report adds that “Individual selfie images can be still images, stored video images, or live streaming images.” As per the report, the computing device can automatically arrange the individual selfies into the synthetic group selfie, which in turn, can be stored as a multi-resource object, “that preserves the individual selfie images so that the user who created the synthetic group selfie or a recipient of the synthetic group selfie can modify the arrangement of the individual selfies within the synthetic group selfie." A report in Gizmodo reveals that the patent does not give clarity as to which Apple devices would have access to the feature. According to the report, it could be exclusive to iPads or iPhones. A report in The Verge, however, adds that even though the idea of a socially-distant selfie seems best during the current situation when there is a global pandemic ravaging the world, putting restrictions on social gatherings, the concept was not developed keeping the present situation in mind. The report states that Apple first filed for the patent in 2018 and received the nod on 2 June 2020. There is no clarity as of yet, when might Apple actually decide to use the software.