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Patents Software Apple

Apple Granted Patent That Would Allow For Socially Distant Group Selfies (cnn.com) 37

Posted by BeauHD from the self-isolating dept.
With people around the world self-isolating at home in order to curb the spread of Covid-19, Apple has received a patent for software that would allow people to take group selfies while socially distancing from one another. CNN reports: The US Patent and Trademark Office recently granted Apple a patent for the software that would allow for "synthetic group selfies," or socially distant group selfies. The software would allow a user to invite others to participate in a group selfie that would arrange multiple people into a single image. It would remove the background image from other users' selfies and place them into the user's photo.

While it appears as if Apple filed for the patent as a response to the pandemic, the tech giant originally filed for the patent in 2018 and it received it June 2. Whether Apple decides to move forward with the patented software remains to be seen, but it would be the perfect way for people to create memories with one another while still socially distancing.
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Apple Granted Patent That Would Allow For Socially Distant Group Selfies More

Apple Granted Patent That Would Allow For Socially Distant Group Selfies

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  • You don't have to leave home, and for you it's a special price of just $25

  • Prior art in the 1990s with QuickCam and Photoshop (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dgatwood ( 11270 ) on Tuesday June 09, 2020 @08:44PM (#60166386) Homepage Journal

    I created my first socially distanced group selfie with a QuickCam and Photoshop back in the late 1990s. Apple literally got a patent for creating a pipeline of automated steps that people have been doing by hand with software for decades. Why in the world would the patent office issue a patent for this?

    And this, right here, is a prime example of why software patents are bad.

    • It's been done before.. but now it's being done WITH A SMARTPHONE!

    • "... got a patent for creating a pipeline of automated steps that people have been doing by hand with for decades."

      That describes a ridiculous number of patents you might consider legitimate.

    • Apple literally got a patent for creating a pipeline of automated steps that people have been doing by hand with software for decades. Why in the world would the patent office issue a patent for this?

      Maybe because your ability to do something manually is not even remotely comparable to an automated software algorithm achieving the same them. Just because I've been vacuuming my house for years doesn't invalidate a patent on a robot vacuum cleaner.

      Now as to whether software should be patentable in the first place... that is up for debate.

      • A robotic vacuum is taking entirely different steps than the human pushing it.

        It is like a patent on a self-propelled vacuum, separate from the patent on self-propelled mowers.

        • An AI driven auto filter takes entirely different steps from the human cutting and object out of an image. What's your point?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by dgatwood ( 11270 )

            AI-based background removal has many years of prior art. There are probably even patents on it.

            • Cool story. I'm not sure what you think background removal has to do with this patent. I can only assume you didn't click the link in the summary.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        Maybe because your ability to do something manually is not even remotely comparable to an automated software algorithm achieving the same them. Just because I've been vacuuming my house for years doesn't invalidate a patent on a robot vacuum cleaner.

        It does if there's prior art for software that automates each of the steps individually. So which of the steps is something that hasn't been previously done in an automated fashion? Asking people to join a group? Nope. Removing the background? Nope. Detect

    • Seems to me that if you write an instruction manual for people to follow, you copyright it. Why written instructions for a computer are treated differently I do not know. Doesn't really seem right.
      • Copyrights and patents are two different things. When you're writing the manual, you're protecting your work - letter by letter. If someone writes a new manual (but about the same thing as your manual) by themselves, they are free to do so. The only thing they're restricted from doing is copying your words / work letter for letter. As a more understandable example, take Scrabble. There are many clones of it (Words with Friends) which are legal because they changed the board design, tile appearance, et

  • Uh, do you think the ability to grab somebody from one photo and put them into another now means iPhone photos can't be trusted by courts anymore?

    This kind of editing trick leads to trouble. Leading people who weren't near each other to appear as if they were... that could lead to dumped boyfriends when the iPhone girls get their hands on this.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      With the advent of Photoshop, photos couldn't be trusted. It's lead to millions of people (usually "tween" girls) who ended up with eating disorders because they were influenced by images they see in magazines. It was only recently did the industry admit to the use of image enhancement tools for those images.

      So photos can cause a bunch of medical problems in a population. There should be no reason to trust any image you see because it could be altered. And with deepfake technology being relatively cheap and

  • Solving the worlds most important problems. (Score:3, Funny)

    by itiswhatitiwijgalt ( 6848512 ) on Tuesday June 09, 2020 @09:19PM (#60166480)
    Shouldn't it be called a groupie?
  • creation of a collage? Oh wait iCollage

    Just my 2 cents ;)

  • Next (Score:3)

    by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Tuesday June 09, 2020 @11:39PM (#60166696)

    Next patent is the ability for your selfie to get taken by another person.

  • its wants its method back.

  • When you flick your camera into selfie mode it should just show an error message: "You're not an influence, no one cares!" and then use the gesture detection to identify when you're about to press the shutter and move the button to the other side of the screen in the last second.

  • this shit is proof that Silicon Valley is incapable of true innovation at this point any why there is no legitimate reason to upgrade from my 12 year old Mac Pro.

  • create memories with one another while still socially distancing.

    Creating memories using software sounds quite creepy and disturbing.

  • This is an example of how the patent system is broken. Where is the model that shows how this software would work?

    It should not be possible to dream up an idea, and then patent it. It should be necessary to actually implement the idea with the intent to sell or license a product. Patents should require "skin in the game." The current system allows patent trolls to do their worst.

  • Apple Granted Patent That Would Allow For Socially Distant Group Selfies

    Software allows (or enables) things. Patents do not.

    This may seem like a technicality, but it's part of what's wrong with the patent system. Patents should be granted to those who are producing things they want to protect, not to those who have some hair-brained idea that they dreamed up.

  • Never thought a social distant group selfie would ever exist! But I guess this is the norm now after covid 19. People can’t risk of getting infected through close contact with each other anymore.

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