IP Library › Granted Patent US 12713125

Granted Patent B2

US 12713125 · App. 18/623,712 · Granted Aug 18, 2026

Avatar creation and editing

Inventors: Christopher Wilson (Sonoma, CA); Guillaume Barlier (Sunnyvale, CA); Sebastian Bauer (Santa Cruz, CA); Aurelio Guzman (San Jose, CA); Johnnie B. Manzari (San Francisco, CA); Nicole R. Ryan (San Francisco, CA); Nicolas Scapel (London, GB); Marco Triverio (San Francisco, CA); Giancarlo Yerkes (San Francisco, CA)

Assignee: Apple Inc.

H04N23/64 G06F3/048 G06F3/04845 G06F3/0488 G06T7/20 G06T7/70 H04N23/611 H04N23/631 G06T13/40 G06T19/20 G06T2207/30196 G06T2207/30244 G06V40/168 H04N23/62

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12713125
App. No.: 18/623,712
Granted: Aug 18, 2026
Kind: B2

External Links

USPTO Patent Center↗ Full Patent PDF↗

Abstract

The present disclosure generally relates to creating and editing user avatars. In some examples, guidance is provided to a user while capturing image data for use in generating a user-specific avatar. In some examples, a user interface allows a user to intuitively customize a user avatar. In some examples, avatars are generated for a messaging session based on an avatar model for a user of the messaging application. In some examples, an avatar editing interface updates a user avatar in response to gestures and based on the type of gesture and the avatar feature that is selected for editing.

Claims (107)

1 . An electronic device, comprising:

one or more cameras;

a display;

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 a placeholder avatar, wherein the display of the placeholder avatar is based on a first position of a user with respect to a field of view of the one or more cameras of the electronic device, and wherein the placeholder avatar is not based on a physical appearance of the user;

while displaying the placeholder avatar, detecting movement of the user to a second position with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras; and

in response to detecting the movement of the user to the second position with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras:

in accordance with a determination that the second position of the user with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras meets a first set of image criteria, capturing first image data of the user with the one or more cameras; and

in accordance with a determination that the second position of the user with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras does not meet the first set of image criteria and while continuing to display the placeholder avatar, providing first guidance to the user to change position with respect to the electronic device to a first target position.

2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

displaying a view finder graphical element concurrently with the display of the placeholder avatar, wherein the display of the view finder graphical element, relative to the display of the representation of the user, is based on first or second position of the user with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras.

3 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

determining whether the second position of the user with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras meets the first set of image criteria.

4 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

after capturing the first image data, providing second guidance to the user to change position with respect to the electronic device to a second target position;

updating the display of the placeholder avatar based on image data captured after the first image data;

after providing the second guidance, determining whether a third position of the user with respect to the electronic device meets a second set of image criteria;

in accordance with a determination that the second detected position meets the second set of image criteria, capturing second image data of the user with the one or more cameras; and

in accordance with a determination that the second detected position does not meet the second set of image criteria, continuing to provide the second guidance to the user to change position with respect to the electronic device to the second target position.

5 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first guidance is provided to the user without changing an appearance of the placeholder avatar based on the first image data.

6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein providing the first guidance includes providing user feedback when the second position of the user with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras meets the first set of image criteria or providing instructions based on how to position the user relative to the field of view of the one or more cameras to be in the first target position with respect to the device.

7 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

in response to capturing the first image data, updating a display of a progress indicator, wherein the display of the progress indicator is based on an amount of image data captured.

8 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

capturing image data of the user; and

in accordance with a determination that the image data of the user fails to meet a lighting criteria, displaying instructions for the user to change the lighting for the field of view of the one or more cameras.

9 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the placeholder avatar is a predetermined silhouette of a person independent of the image data of the user.

10 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

after capturing the first image data, generating a user-specific avatar that contains features selected based on an appearance of the user determined based on the first image data.

11 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

displaying the generated user-specific avatar on the display.

12 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

determining a physical feature or an accessory feature of the user based on the first image data, and generating the user-specific avatar includes adding a representation of the physical feature or the accessory feature to the user-specific avatar.

13 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the user-specific avatar is expression independent regardless of whether the user has an expression in the first image data.

14 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein generating the user-specific avatar based on the first image data includes generating a plurality of avatars, wherein the plurality of avatars include a first avatar and a second avatar different than the first avatar, and wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

displaying the plurality of avatars; and

receiving user input selecting one of the plurality of avatars.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by one or more processors of an electronic device with a display and one or more cameras, the one or more programs including instructions for:

while displaying the placeholder avatar, detecting movement of the user to a second position with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras; and

in response to detecting the movement of the user to the second position with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras:

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

determining whether the second position of the user with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras meets the first set of image criteria.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

after capturing the first image data, providing second guidance to the user to change position with respect to the electronic device to a second target position;

updating the display of the placeholder avatar based on image data captured after the first image data;

after providing the second guidance, determining whether a third position of the user with respect to the electronic device meets a second set of image criteria;

in accordance with a determination that the second detected position meets the second set of image criteria, capturing second image data of the user with the one or more cameras; and

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the first guidance is provided to the user without changing an appearance of the placeholder avatar based on the first image data.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein providing the first guidance includes providing user feedback when the second position of the user with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras meets the first set of image criteria or providing instructions based on how to position the user relative to the field of view of the one or more cameras to be in the first target position with respect to the device.

21 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

in response to capturing the first image data, updating a display of a progress indicator, wherein the display of the progress indicator is based on an amount of image data captured.

22 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

capturing image data of the user; and

23 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the placeholder avatar is a predetermined silhouette of a person independent of the image data of the user.

24 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

after capturing the first image data, generating a user-specific avatar that contains features selected based on an appearance of the user determined based on the first image data.

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

displaying the generated user-specific avatar on the display.

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

27 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 24 , wherein the user-specific avatar is expression independent regardless of whether the user has an expression in the first image data.

28 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 24 , wherein generating the user-specific avatar based on the first image data includes generating a plurality of avatars, wherein the plurality of avatars include a first avatar and a second avatar different than the first avatar, and wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

displaying the plurality of avatars; and

receiving user input selecting one of the plurality of avatars.

29 . A method, comprising:

at an electronic device with one or more cameras and a display:

while displaying the placeholder avatar, detecting movement of the user to a second position with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras; and

in response to detecting the movement of the user to the second position with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras:

30 . The method of claim 29 , further comprising:

31 . The method of claim 29 , further comprising:

determining whether the second position of the user with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras meets the first set of image criteria.

32 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

after capturing the first image data, providing second guidance to the user to change position with respect to the electronic device to a second target position;

updating the display of the placeholder avatar based on image data captured after the first image data;

after providing the second guidance, determining whether a third position of the user with respect to the electronic device meets a second set of image criteria;

in accordance with a determination that the second detected position meets the second set of image criteria, capturing second image data of the user with the one or more cameras; and

33 . The method of claim 29 , wherein the first guidance is provided to the user without changing an appearance of the placeholder avatar based on the first image data.

34 . The method of claim 29 , wherein providing the first guidance includes providing user feedback when the second position of the user with respect to the field of view of the one or more cameras meets the first set of image criteria or providing instructions based on how to position the user relative to the field of view of the one or more cameras to be in the first target position with respect to the device.

35 . The method of claim 29 , further comprising:

in response to capturing the first image data, updating a display of a progress indicator, wherein the display of the progress indicator is based on an amount of image data captured.

36 . The method of claim 29 , further comprising:

capturing image data of the user; and

37 . The method of claim 29 , wherein the placeholder avatar is a predetermined silhouette of a person independent of the image data of the user.

38 . The method of claim 29 , further comprising:

after capturing the first image data, generating a user-specific avatar that contains features selected based on an appearance of the user determined based on the first image data.

39 . The method of claim 38 , further comprising:

displaying the generated user-specific avatar on the display.

40 . The method of claim 38 , further comprising:

41 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the user-specific avatar is expression independent regardless of whether the user has an expression in the first image data.

42 . The method of claim 38 , wherein generating the user-specific avatar based on the first image data includes generating a plurality of avatars, wherein the plurality of avatars include a first avatar and a second avatar different than the first avatar, and wherein the method further comprises:

displaying the plurality of avatars; and

receiving user input selecting one of the plurality of avatars.