IP Library › Granted Patent US 12665988

Granted Patent B2

US 12665988 · App. 18/582,474 · Granted Jun 23, 2026

Devices, methods, and graphical user interfaces for displaying a representation of a person

Inventors: Jason D. Rickwald (Santa Cruz, CA); Giancarlo Yerkes (San Francisco, CA); Rupert Burton (San Francisco, CA); William A. Sorrentino, III (Mill Valley, CA); Peter D. Anton (Portola Valley, CA)

Assignee: Apple Inc.

H04N7/157 G06T13/40 G06T15/50 G06V40/171

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12665988
App. No.: 18/582,474
Granted: Jun 23, 2026
Kind: B2

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Abstract

Techniques for displaying a representation of a person based on a background, viewing angle, and/or a mouth occlusion.

Claims (91)

1 . A computer system configured to communicate with one or more display generation components, the computer system comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

displaying, via the one or more display generation components, a representation of a person, including displaying a representation of a face of the person with a first visual fidelity; and

in response to a determination that a mouth of the person is occluded, visually deemphasizing at least a portion of the representation of the face of the person, including changing an appearance of the representation of the face of the person from the representation of the face of the person with the first visual fidelity to the representation of the face of the person with a second visual fidelity that is less than the first visual fidelity.

2 . The computer system of claim 1 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

while displaying the representation of the face of the person with the first visual fidelity, changing a state of the representation of the face of the person in response to a change in an expression of the person.

3 . The computer system of claim 1 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

while displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity, maintaining a state of the representation of the face of the person when an expression of the person changes.

4 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity is performed when the mouth of the person is occluded by a hand.

5 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity is performed when the mouth of the person is occluded by a non-anatomical object.

6 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein deemphasizing at least a portion of the representation of the person includes blurring an entirety of the representation of the person.

7 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein deemphasizing at least a portion of the representation of the person includes increasing an animated noise effect.

8 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein deemphasizing at least a portion of the representation of the person includes changing a simulated lighting effect on the at least a portion of the representation of the person.

9 . The computer system of claim 1 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

while displaying the representation of the face of the person with the first visual fidelity, tracking a mouth of the person according to a first tracking algorithm; and

in response to a determination that the mouth of the person is occluded, tracking the mouth of the person according to a second tracking algorithm that is different from the first tracking algorithm.

10 . The computer system of claim 1 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

after displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity:

in response to a determination that the mouth of the person is not occluded, displaying the representation of the face of the person with the first visual fidelity.

11 . The computer system of claim 1 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

after displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity:

in accordance with a determination that the mouth of the person has been occluded for a first threshold amount of time, ceasing display of the representation of the person.

12 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the person includes an anatomical representation of the person, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

after displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity:

in accordance with a determination that the mouth of the person has been occluded for a second threshold amount of time, displaying a non-anatomical representation of the person without displaying the anatomical representation.

13 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity includes:

in accordance with a determination that the face of the person is being tracked with a first degree of confidence, displaying the representation of the face of the person with a first expression; and

in accordance with a determination that the face of the person is being tracked with a second degree of confidence that is different from the first degree of confidence, displaying the representation of the face of the person with a second expression.

14 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the person is displayed as a part of a real-time communication session between a user of the computer system and one or more other participants including a participant corresponding to the person represented by the representation of the person.

15 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein displaying the representation of the person includes displaying movement of the representation of the person in response to physical movement of the person.

16 . The computer system of claim 1 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

in response to the determination that the mouth of the person is occluded, displaying, via the one or more display generation components, a darker region on a portion of the representation of the face of the person that corresponds to a mouth of the person.

17 . The computer system of claim 16 , wherein displaying the darker region on the portion of the representation of the face of the person that corresponds to a mouth of the person includes displaying a color pattern that varies over time in the darker region.

18 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by one or more processors of a computer system that is in communication with one or more display generation components, the one or more programs including instructions for:

displaying, via the one or more display generation components, a representation of a person, including displaying a representation of a face of the person with a first visual fidelity; and

19 . A method, comprising:

at a computer system that is in communication with one or more display generation components:

displaying, via the one or more display generation components, a representation of a person, including displaying a representation of a face of the person with a first visual fidelity; and

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

21 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

22 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity is performed when the mouth of the person is occluded by a hand.

23 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity is performed when the mouth of the person is occluded by a non-anatomical object.

24 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

while displaying the representation of the face of the person with the first visual fidelity, tracking a mouth of the person according to a first tracking algorithm; and

in response to a determination that the mouth of the person is occluded, tracking the mouth of the person according to a second tracking algorithm that is different from the first tracking algorithm.

25 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

after displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity:

in response to a determination that the mouth of the person is not occluded, displaying the representation of the face of the person with the first visual fidelity.

26 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

after displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity:

in accordance with a determination that the mouth of the person has been occluded for a first threshold amount of time, ceasing display of the representation of the person.

27 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the representation of the person includes an anatomical representation of the person, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

after displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity:

28 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity includes:

in accordance with a determination that the face of the person is being tracked with a first degree of confidence, displaying the representation of the face of the person with a first expression; and

29 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the representation of the person is displayed as a part of a real-time communication session between a user of the computer system and one or more other participants including a participant corresponding to the person represented by the representation of the person.

30 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein displaying the representation of the person includes displaying movement of the representation of the person in response to physical movement of the person.

31 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , the one or more programs further including instructions for:

32 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

33 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

34 . The method of claim 19 , wherein displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity is performed when the mouth of the person is occluded by a hand.

35 . The method of claim 19 , wherein displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity is performed when the mouth of the person is occluded by a non-anatomical object.

36 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

while displaying the representation of the face of the person with the first visual fidelity, tracking a mouth of the person according to a first tracking algorithm; and

in response to a determination that the mouth of the person is occluded, tracking the mouth of the person according to a second tracking algorithm that is different from the first tracking algorithm.

37 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

after displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity:

in response to a determination that the mouth of the person is not occluded, displaying the representation of the face of the person with the first visual fidelity.

38 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

after displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity:

in accordance with a determination that the mouth of the person has been occluded for a first threshold amount of time, ceasing display of the representation of the person.

39 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the representation of the person includes an anatomical representation of the person, the method further comprising:

after displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity:

40 . The method of claim 19 , wherein displaying the representation of the face of the person with the second visual fidelity includes:

in accordance with a determination that the face of the person is being tracked with a first degree of confidence, displaying the representation of the face of the person with a first expression; and

41 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the representation of the person is displayed as a part of a real-time communication session between a user of the computer system and one or more other participants including a participant corresponding to the person represented by the representation of the person.

42 . The method of claim 19 , wherein displaying the representation of the person includes displaying movement of the representation of the person in response to physical movement of the person.

43 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising: