Apple patent for 'synthetic selfies' suggests iPhones could create group pictures even while social distancing

Apple has been granted a patent for a technology that would allow for "synthetic group selfies". The feature would let people stitch together various images so that it looks like people were all together, even if they were actually apart. The patent was filed long before the new coronavirus was ever discovered. But it was not granted to Apple until last week, when it looked very prescient. The feature would allow people to stitch together an image of a group even if they could not stand close to each other or even in the same place because of social distancing rules, for instance.