Patent Publication Number: US-2023146298-A1

Title: Messaging system with augmented reality messages

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of and claims priority to and incorporates by reference U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/392,607, filed Aug. 3, 2021, which application is a continuation of and claims priority to and incorporates by reference U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/542,710, filed Aug. 16, 2019, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,151,794, which claims priority to and incorporates by reference U.S. provisional patent application no. 62/868,740 filed Jun. 28, 2019. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     An embodiment of the present subject matter relates generally to messaging systems and, more specifically, to generating augmented reality lenses for use in messaging systems. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Augmented reality is the display of the physical world and/or physical objects therein with an overlay of computer-generated perceptual information. The computer-generated perceptual information is not limited to visually-perceived data but can also include auditory data and haptic feedback. The overlaid information may be constructive (adding to the display) and/or destructive (masking of the display). 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element is first introduced. 
         FIG.  1    is a diagrammatic representation of a networked environment in which the present disclosure may be deployed, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG.  2    is a diagrammatic representation of a messaging client application, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG.  3    is a diagrammatic representation of a data structure as maintained in a database, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG.  4    is a diagrammatic representation of a message, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG.  5    is a flowchart for an access-limiting process, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG.  6    is block diagram showing a software architecture within which the present disclosure may be implemented, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG.  7    is a diagrammatic representation of a machine, in the form of a computer system within which a set of instructions may be executed for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG.  8    is a diagrammatic representation of a processing environment, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG.  9    illustrates a method of generating an augmented reality lens in accordance with one embodiment. 
         FIG.  10    illustrates a method of generating an augmented reality lens in accordance with one embodiment. 
         FIG.  11    illustrates a screen shot of a lens publisher GUI presenting a choice of lens type creation method. 
         FIG.  12    illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher presenting industry selection input. 
         FIG.  13    illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher generating an augmented reality effect. 
         FIG.  14    illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher generating an augmented reality effect. 
         FIG.  15    illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher saving a generated augmented reality lens. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Embodiments enable users to create augmented reality lenses using templates or to create a new lens using preexisting lens features. Users can further add two-dimensional images/video to the lenses, such as logos. Choices of templates for users can be prepopulated based on industry and/or lens categories. For example, templates can be organized by industry, such as food &amp; beverage, Personal Care &amp; Beauty, etc. Lens Categories can include Most popular, upcoming holidays, animals, etc. 
     Users can create new lenses by selecting lens features, such as morphing an image, and a trigger to activate the lens feature. Lens features can include adding a headdress such as a hat, headband, party hat, etc.; glasses, visual effects, color filters, face effects such as shape/morphing, applying cosmetics, etc. 
     Once a user has generated a lens based on templates or lens features, users can add 2D overlays, such as logos, product image, and/or other images. In addition, users can add music/sounds to the lens. Accordingly, users, such as advertisers, can quickly generate lenses for advertising or other purposes based on templates or lens features for use in a communication system, such as an ephemeral messaging system. 
       FIG.  1    is a block diagram showing an example messaging system  100  for exchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network. The messaging system  100  includes multiple instances of a client device  102 , each of which hosts a number of applications including a messaging client application  104 . Each messaging client application  104  is communicatively coupled to other instances of the messaging client application  104  and a messaging server system  108  via a network  106  (e.g., the Internet). 
     A messaging client application  104  is able to communicate and exchange data with another messaging client application  104  and with the messaging server system  108  via the network  106 . The data exchanged between messaging client application  104 , and between a messaging client application  104  and the messaging server system  108 , includes functions (e.g., commands to invoke functions) as well as payload data (e.g., text, audio, video or other multimedia data). 
     The messaging server system  108  provides server-side functionality via the network  106  to a particular messaging client application  104 . While certain functions of the messaging system  100  are described herein as being performed by either a messaging client application  104  or by the messaging server system  108 , the location of certain functionality either within the messaging client application  104  or the messaging server system  108  is a design choice. For example, it may be technically preferable to initially deploy certain technology and functionality within the messaging server system  108 , but to later migrate this technology and functionality to the messaging client application  104  where a client device  102  has a sufficient processing capacity. 
     The messaging server system  108  supports various services and operations that are provided to the messaging client application  104 . Such operations include transmitting data to, receiving data from, and processing data generated by the messaging client application  104 . This data may include, message content, client device information, geolocation information, media annotation and overlays, message content persistence conditions, social network information, and live event information, as examples. Data exchanges within the messaging system  100  are invoked and controlled through functions available via user interfaces (UIs) of the messaging client application  104 . 
     Turning now specifically to the messaging server system  108 , an Application Program Interface (API) server  110  is coupled to, and provides a programmatic interface to, an application server  112 . The application server  112  is communicatively coupled to a database server  118 , which facilitates access to a database  120  in which is stored data associated with messages processed by the application server  112 . 
     The Application Program Interface (API) server  110  receives and transmits message data (e.g., commands and message payloads) between the client device  102  and the application server  112 . Specifically, the Application Program Interface (API) server  110  provides a set of interfaces (e.g., routines and protocols) that can be called or queried by the messaging client application  104  in order to invoke functionality of the application server  112 . The Application Program Interface (API) server  110  exposes various functions supported by the application server  112 , including account registration, login functionality, the sending of messages, via the application server  112 , from a particular messaging client application  104  to another messaging client application  104 , the sending of media files (e.g., images or video) from a messaging client application  104  to the messaging server application  114 , and for possible access by another messaging client application  104 , the setting of a collection of media data (e.g., story), the retrieval of a list of friends of a user of a client device  102 , the retrieval of such collections, the retrieval of messages and content, the adding and deletion of friends to a social graph, the location of friends within a social graph, and opening an application event (e.g., relating to the messaging client application  104 ). 
     The application server  112  hosts a number of applications and subsystems, including a messaging server application  114 , an image processing system  116  and a social network system  122 . The messaging server application  114  implements a number of message processing technologies and functions, particularly related to the aggregation and other processing of content (e.g., textual and multimedia content) included in messages received from multiple instances of the messaging client application  104 . As will be described in further detail, the text and media content from multiple sources may be aggregated into collections of content (e.g., called stories or galleries). These collections are then made available, by the messaging server application  114 , to the messaging client application  104 . Other processor and memory intensive processing of data may also be performed server-side by the messaging server application  114 , in view of the hardware requirements for such processing. 
     The application server  112  also includes an image processing system  116  that is dedicated to performing various image processing operations, typically with respect to images or video received within the payload of a message at the messaging server application  114 . 
     The social network system  122  supports various social networking functions services, and makes these functions and services available to the messaging server application  114 . To this end, the social network system  122  maintains and accesses an entity graph  304  (as shown in  FIG.  3   ) within the database  120 . Examples of functions and services supported by the social network system  122  include the identification of other users of the messaging system  100  with which a particular user has relationships or is “following”, and also the identification of other entities and interests of a particular user. 
     The application server  112  is communicatively coupled to a database server  118 , which facilitates access to a database  120  in which is stored data associated with messages processed by the messaging server application  114 . 
       FIG.  2    is block diagram illustrating further details regarding the messaging system  100 , according to example embodiments. Specifically, the messaging system  100  is shown to comprise the messaging client application  104  and the application server  112 , which in turn embody a number of some subsystems, namely an ephemeral timer system  202 , a collection management system  204  and an annotation system  206 . 
     The ephemeral timer system  202  is responsible for enforcing the temporary access to content permitted by the messaging client application  104  and the messaging server application  114 . To this end, the ephemeral timer system  202  incorporates a number of timers that, based on duration and display parameters associated with a message, or collection of messages (e.g., a story), selectively display and enable access to messages and associated content via the messaging client application  104 . Further details regarding the operation of the ephemeral timer system  202  are provided below. 
     The collection management system  204  is responsible for managing collections of media (e.g., collections of text, image video and audio data). In some examples, a collection of content (e.g., messages, including images, video, text and audio) may be organized into an “event gallery” or an “event story.” Such a collection may be made available for a specified time period, such as the duration of an event to which the content relates. For example, content relating to a music concert may be made available as a “story” for the duration of that music concert. The collection management system  204  may also be responsible for publishing an icon that provides notification of the existence of a particular collection to the user interface of the messaging client application  104 . 
     The collection management system  204  furthermore includes a curation interface  208  that allows a collection manager to manage and curate a particular collection of content. For example, the curation interface  208  enables an event organizer to curate a collection of content relating to a specific event (e.g., delete inappropriate content or redundant messages). Additionally, the collection management system  204  employs machine vision (or image recognition technology) and content rules to automatically curate a content collection. In certain embodiments, compensation may be paid to a user for inclusion of user-generated content into a collection. In such cases, the curation interface  208  operates to automatically make payments to such users for the use of their content. 
     The annotation system  206  provides various functions that enable a user to annotate or otherwise modify or edit media content associated with a message. For example, the annotation system  206  provides functions related to the generation and publishing of media overlays for messages processed by the messaging system  100 . The annotation system  206  operatively supplies a media overlay or supplementation (e.g., an image filter) to the messaging client application  104  based on a geolocation of the client device  102 , In another example, the annotation system  206  operatively supplies a media overlay to the messaging client application  104  based on other information, such as social network information of the user of the client device  102 . A media overlay may include audio and visual content and visual effects. Examples of audio and visual content include pictures, texts, logos, animations, and sound effects. An example of a visual effect includes color overlaying. The audio and visual content or the visual effects can be applied to a media content item (e.g., a photo) at the client device  102 . For example, the media overlay may include text that can be overlaid on top of a photograph taken by the client device  102 . In another example, the media overlay includes an identification of a location overlay (e.g., Venice beach), a name of a live event, or a name of a merchant overlay (e.g., Beach Coffee House). In another example, the annotation system  206  uses the geolocation of the client device  102  to identify a media overlay that includes the name of a merchant at the geolocation of the client device  102 . The media overlay may include other indicia associated with the merchant. The media overlays may be stored in the database  120  and accessed through the database server  118 . 
     In one example embodiment, the annotation system  206  provides a user-based publication platform that enables users to select a geolocation on a map, and upload content associated with the selected geolocation. The user may also specify circumstances under which a particular media overlay should be offered to other users. The annotation system  206  generates a media overlay that includes the uploaded content and associates the uploaded content with the selected geolocation. 
     In another example embodiment, the annotation system  206  provides a merchant-based publication platform that enables merchants to select a particular media overlay associated with a geolocation via a bidding process. For example, the annotation system  206  associates the media overlay of a highest bidding merchant with a corresponding geolocation for a predefined amount of time. 
       FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram illustrating data structures  300  which may be stored in the database  120  of the messaging server system  108 , according to certain example embodiments. While the content of the database  120  is shown to comprise a number of tables, it will be appreciated that the data could be stored in other types of data structures (e.g., as an object-oriented database). 
     The database  120  includes message data stored within a message table  314 . The entity table  302  stores entity data, including an entity graph  304 . Entities for which records are maintained within the entity table  302  may include individuals, corporate entities, organizations, objects, places, events, etc. Regardless of type, any entity regarding which the messaging server system  108  stores data may be a recognized entity. Each entity is provided with a unique identifier, as well as an entity type identifier (not shown). 
     The entity graph  304  furthermore stores information regarding relationships and associations between entities. Such relationships may be social, professional (e.g., work at a common corporation or organization) interested-based or activity-based, merely for example. 
     The database  120  also stores annotation data, in the example form of filters, in an annotation table  312 . Filters for which data is stored within the annotation table  312  are associated with and applied to videos (for which data is stored in a video table  310 ) and/or images (for which data is stored in an image table  308 ). Filters, in one example, are overlays that are displayed as overlaid on an image or video during presentation to a recipient user. Filters may be of varies types, including user-selected filters from a gallery of filters presented to a sending user by the messaging client application  104  when the sending user is composing a message. Other types of filters include geolocation filters (also known as geo-filters) which may be presented to a sending user based on geographic location. For example, geolocation filters specific to a neighborhood or special location may be presented within a user interface by the messaging client application  104 , based on geolocation information determined by a GPS unit of the client device  102 . Another type of filer is a data filer, which may be selectively presented to a sending user by the messaging client application  104 , based on other inputs or information gathered by the client device  102  during the message creation process. Example of data filters include current temperature at a specific location, a current speed at which a sending user is traveling, battery life for a client device  102 , or the current time. 
     Other annotation data that may be stored within the image table  308  is so-called “lens” data. A “lens” may be a real-time special effect and sound that may be added to an image or a video. 
     As mentioned above, the video table  310  stores video data which, in one embodiment, is associated with messages for which records are maintained within the message table  314 . Similarly, the image table  308  stores image data associated with messages for which message data is stored in the entity table  302 . The entity table  302  may associate various annotations from the annotation table  312  with various images and videos stored in the image table  308  and the video table  310 . 
     A story table  306  stores data regarding collections of messages and associated image, video, or audio data, which are compiled into a collection (e.g., a story or a gallery). The creation of a particular collection may be initiated by a particular user (e.g., each user for which a record is maintained in the entity table  302 ). A user may create a “personal story” in the form of a collection of content that has been created and sent/broadcast by that user. To this end, the user interface of the messaging client application  104  may include an icon that is user-selectable to enable a sending user to add specific content to his or her personal story. 
     A collection may also constitute a “live story,” which is a collection of content from multiple users that is created manually, automatically, or using a combination of manual and automatic techniques, example, a “live story” may constitute a curated stream of user-submitted content from varies locations and events. Users whose client devices have location services enabled and are at a common location event at a particular time may, for example, be presented with an option, via a user interface of the messaging client application  104 , to contribute content to a particular live story. The live story may be identified to the user by the messaging client application  104 , based on his or her location. The end result is a “live story” told from a community perspective. 
     A further type of content collection is known as a “location story”, which enables a user whose client device  102  is located within a specific geographic location (e.g., on a college or university campus) to contribute to a particular collection. In some embodiments, a contribution to a location story may require a second degree of authentication to verify that the end user belongs to a specific organization or other entity (e.g., is a student on the university campus). 
       FIG.  4    is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a message  400 , according to some in some embodiments, generated by a messaging client application  104  for communication to a further messaging client application  104  or the messaging server application  114 . The content of a particular message  400  is used to populate the message table  314  stored within the database  120 , accessible by the messaging server application  114 . Similarly, the content of a message  400  is stored in memory as “in-transit” or “in-flight” data of the client device  102  or the application server  112 . The message  400  is shown to include the following components:
         A message identifier  402 : a unique identifier that identifies the message  400 .   A message text payload  404 : text, to be generated by a user via a user interface of the client device  102  and that is included in the message  400 .   A message image payload  406 : image data, captured by a camera component of a client device  102  or retrieved from a memory component of a client device  102 , and that is included in the message  400 .   A message video payload  408 : video data, captured by a camera component or retrieved from a memory component of the client device  102  and that is included in the message  400 .   A message audio payload  410 : audio data, captured by a microphone or retrieved from a memory component of the client device  102 , and that is included in the message  400 .   A message annotations  412 : annotation data (e.g., filters, stickers or other enhancements) that represents annotations to be applied to message image payload  406 , message video payload  408 , or message audio payload  410  of the message  400 .   A message duration parameter  414 : parameter value indicating, in seconds, the amount of time for which content of the message (e.g., the message image payload  406 , message video payload  408 , message audio payload  410 ) is to be presented or made accessible to a user via the messaging client application  104 .   A message geolocation parameter  416 : geolocation data (e.g., latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates) associated with the content payload of the message. Multiple message geolocation parameter  416  values may be included in the payload, each of these parameter values being associated with respect to content items included in the content (e.g., a specific image into within the message image payload  406 , or a specific video in the message video payload  408 ).   A message story identifier  418 : identifier values identifying one or more content collections (e.g., “stories”) with which a particular content item in the message image payload  406  of the message  400  is associated. For example, multiple images within the message image payload  406  may each be associated with multiple content collections using identifier values.   A message tag  420 : each message  400  may be tagged with multiple tags, each of which is indicative of the subject matter of content included in the message payload. For example, where a particular image included in the message image payload  406  depicts an animal (e.g., a lion), a tag value may be included within the message tag  420  that is indicative of the relevant animal. Tag values may be generated manually, based on user input, or may be automatically generated using, for example, image recognition.   A message sender identifier  422 : an identifier (e.g., a messaging system identifier, email address, or device identifier) indicative of a user of the client device  102  on which the message  400  was generated and from which the message  400  was sent   A message receiver identifier  424 : an identifier (e.g., a messaging system identifier, email address, or device identifier) indicative of a user of the client device  102  to which the message  400  is addressed.       

     The contents (e.g., values) of the various components of message  400  may be pointers to locations in tables within which content data values are stored. For example, an image value in the message image payload  406  may be a pointer to (or address of) a location within an image table  308 . Similarly, values within the message video payload  408  may point to data stored within a video table  310 , values stored within the message annotations  412  may point to data stored in an annotation table  312 , values stored within the message story identifier  418  may point to data stored in a story table  306 , and values stored within the message sender identifier  422  and the message receiver identifier  424  may point to user records stored within an entity table  302 . 
       FIG.  5    is a schematic diagram illustrating an access-limiting process  500 , in terms of which access to content (e.g., an ephemeral message  502 , and associated multimedia payload of data) or a content collection (e.g., an ephemeral message group  504 ) may be time-limited (e.g., made ephemeral). 
     An ephemeral message  502  is shown to be associated with a message duration parameter  506 , the value of which determines an amount of time that the ephemeral message  502  will be displayed to a receiving user of the ephemeral message  502  by the messaging client application  104 . In one embodiment, an ephemeral message  502  is viewable by a receiving user for up to a maximum of 10 seconds, depending on the amount of time that the sending user specifies using the message duration parameter  506 . 
     The message duration parameter  506  and the message receiver identifier  424  are shown to be inputs to a message timer  512 , which is responsible for determining the amount of time that the ephemeral message  502  is shown to a particular receiving user identified by the message receiver identifier  424 . In particular, the ephemeral message  502  will only be shown to the relevant receiving user for a time period determined by the value of the message duration parameter  506 . The message timer  512  is shown to provide output to a more generalized ephemeral tinier system  202 , which is responsible for the overall timing of display of content (e.g., an ephemeral message  502 ) to a receiving user. 
     The ephemeral message  502  is shown in  FIG.  5    to be included within an ephemeral message group  504  (e.g., a collection of messages in a personal story, or an event story). The ephemeral message group  504  has an associated group duration parameter  508 , a value of which determines a time-duration for which the ephemeral message group  504  is presented and accessible to users of the messaging system  100 . The group duration parameter  508 , for example, may be the duration of a music concert, where the ephemeral message group  504  is a collection of content pertaining to that concert. Alternatively, a user (either the owning user or a curator user) may specify the value for the group duration parameter  508  when performing the setup and creation of the ephemeral message group  504 . 
     Additionally, each ephemeral message  502  within the ephemeral message group  504  has an associated group participation parameter  510 , a value of which determines the duration of time for which the ephemeral message  502  will be accessible within the context of the ephemeral message group  504 . Accordingly, a particular ephemeral message group  504  may “expire” and become inaccessible within the context of the ephemeral message group  504 , prior to the ephemeral message group  504  itself expiring in terms of the group duration parameter  508 . The group duration parameter  508 , group participation parameter  510 , and message receiver identifier  424  each provide input to a group timer  514 , which operationally determines, firstly, whether a particular ephemeral message  502  of the ephemeral message group  504  will be displayed to a particular receiving user and, if so, for how long. Note that the ephemeral message group  504  is also aware of the identity of the particular receiving user as a result of the message receiver identifier  424 . 
     Accordingly, the group timer  514  operationally controls the overall lifespan of an associated ephemeral message group  504 , as well as an individual ephemeral message  502  included in the ephemeral message group  504 . In one embodiment, each and every ephemeral message  502  within the ephemeral message group  504  remains viewable and accessible for a time-period specified by the group duration parameter  508 . In a further embodiment, a certain ephemeral message  502  may expire, within the context of ephemeral message group  504 , based on a group participation parameter  510 . Note that a message duration parameter  506  may still determine the duration of time for which a particular ephemeral message  502  is displayed to a receiving user, even within the context of the ephemeral message group  504 . Accordingly, the message duration parameter  506  determines the duration of time that a particular ephemeral message  502  is displayed to a receiving user, regardless of whether the receiving user is viewing that ephemeral message  502  inside or outside the context of an ephemeral message group  504 . 
     The ephemeral timer system  202  may furthermore operationally remove a particular ephemeral message  502  from the ephemeral message group  504  based on a determination that it has exceeded an associated group participation parameter  510 . For example, when a sending user has established a group participation parameter  510  of 24 hours from posting, the ephemeral timer system  202  will remove the relevant ephemeral message  502  from the ephemeral message group  504  after the specified 24 hours. The ephemeral timer system  202  also operates to remove an ephemeral message group  504  either when the group participation parameter  510  for each and every ephemeral message  502  within the ephemeral message group  504  has expired, or when the ephemeral message group  504  itself has expired in terms of the group duration parameter  508 . 
     In certain use cases, a creator of a particular ephemeral message group  504  may specify an indefinite group duration parameter  508 . In this case, the expiration of the group participation parameter  510  for the last remaining ephemeral message  502  within the ephemeral message group  504  will determine when the ephemeral message group  504  itself expires. In this case, a new ephemeral message  502 , added to the ephemeral message group  504 , with a new group participation parameter  510 , effectively extends the life of an ephemeral message group  504  to equal the value of the group participation parameter  510 . 
     Responsive to the ephemeral timer system  202  determining that an ephemeral message group  504  has expired (e.g., is no longer accessible), the ephemeral timer system  202  communicates with the messaging system  100  (and, for example, specifically the messaging client application  104 ) to cause an indicium (e.g., an icon) associated with the relevant ephemeral message group  504  to no longer be displayed within a user interface of the messaging client application  104 . Similarly, when the ephemeral timer system  202  determines that the message duration parameter  506  for a particular ephemeral message  502  has expired, the ephemeral timer system  202  causes the messaging client application  104  to no longer display an indicium (e.g., an icon or textual identification) associated with the ephemeral message  502 . 
       FIG.  6    is a block diagram  600  illustrating a software architecture  604 , which can be installed on any one or more of the devices described herein. The software architecture  604  is supported by hardware such as a machine  602  that includes processors  620 , memory  626 , and I/O components  638 . In this example, the software architecture  604  can be conceptualized as a stack of layers, where each layer provides a particular functionality. The software architecture  604  includes layers such as an operating system  612 , libraries  610 , frameworks  608 , and applications  606 . Operationally, the applications  606  invoke API calls  650  through the software stack and receive messages  652  in response to the API calls  650 . 
     The operating system  612  manages hardware resources and provides common services. The operating system  612  includes, for example, a kernel  614 , services  616 , and drivers  622 . The kernel  614  acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers. For example, the kernel  614  provides memory management, processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management, networking, and security settings, among other functionality. The services  616  can provide other common services for the other software layers. The drivers  622  are responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware. For instance, the drivers  622  can include display drivers, camera drivers, BLUETOOTH® or BLUETOOTH® Low Energy drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), WI-FI® drivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth. 
     The libraries  610  provide a low-level common infrastructure used by the applications  606 . The libraries  610  can include system libraries  618  (e.g., C standard library) that provide functions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition, the libraries  610  can include API libraries  624  such as media libraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of various media formats such as Moving Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4), Advanced Video Coding (H.264 or AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) audio codec, Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG or JPG), or Portable Network Graphics (PNG)), graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework used to render in two dimensions (2D) and three dimensions (3D) in a graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite to provide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit to provide web browsing functionality), and the like. The libraries  610  can also include a wide variety of other libraries  628  to provide many other APIs to the applications  606 . 
     The frameworks  608  provide a high-level common infrastructure that is used by the applications  606 . For example, the frameworks  608  provide various graphical user interface (GUI) functions, high-level resource management, and high-level location services. The frameworks  608  can provide a broad spectrum of other APIs that can be used by the applications  606 , some of which may be specific to a particular operating system or platform. 
     In an example embodiment, the applications  606  may include a home application  636 , a contacts application  630 , a browser application  632 , a book reader application  634 , a location application  642 , a media application  644 , a messaging application  646 , a game application  648 , and a broad assortment of other applications such as third-party applications  640 . The applications  606  are programs that execute functions defined in the programs. Various programming languages can be employed to create one or more of the applications  606 , structured in a variety of manners, such as object-oriented programming languages (e.g., Objective-C, Java, or C++) or procedural programming languages (e.g., C or assembly language). In a specific example, the third-party applications  640  (e.g., applications developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform) may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such as IOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or another mobile operating system. In this example, the third-party applications  640  can invoke the API calls  650  provided by the operating system  612  to facilitate functionality described herein. 
       FIG.  7    is a diagrammatic representation of a machine  700  within which instructions  708  (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code) for causing the machine  700  to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. For example, the instructions  708  may cause the machine  700  to execute any one or more of the methods described herein. The instructions  708  transform the general, non-programmed machine  700  into a particular machine  700  programmed to carry out the described and illustrated functions in the manner described. The machine  700  may operate as a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine  700  may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine  700  may comprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), a PDA, an entertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing the instructions  708 , sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to be taken by the machine  700 . Further, while only a single machine  700  is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include a collection of machines that individually or jointly execute the instructions  708  to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. 
     The machine  700  may include processors  702 , memory  704 , and I/O components  742 , which may be configured to communicate with each other via a bus  744 . In an example embodiment, the processors  702  (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an ASIC, a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor  706  and a processor  710  that execute the instructions  708 . The term “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors that may comprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. Although  FIG.  7    shows multiple processors  702 , the machine  700  may include a single processor with a single core, a single processor with multiple cores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a single core, multiple processors with multiples cores, or any combination thereof. 
     The memory  704  includes a main memory  712 , a static memory  714 , and a storage unit  716 , both accessible to the processors  702  via the bus  744 . The main memory  704 , the static memory  714 , and storage unit  716  store the instructions  708  embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions  708  may also reside, completely or partially, within the main memory  712 , within the static memory  714 , within machine-readable medium  718  within the storage unit  716 , within at least one of the processors  702  (e.g., within the processor&#39;s cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine  700 . 
     The I/O components  742  may include a wide variety of components to receive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/O components  742  that are included in a particular machine will depend on the type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobile phones may include a touch input device or other such input mechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include such a touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components  742  may include many other components that are not shown in  FIG.  7   . In various example embodiments, the I/O components  742  may include output components  728  and input components  730 . The output components  728  may include visual components (e.g., a display such as a plasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and so forth. The input components  730  may include alphanumeric input components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receive alphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumeric input components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or another pointing instrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touch screen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures, or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., a microphone), and the like. 
     In further example embodiments, the I/O components  742  may include biometric components  732 , motion components  734 , environmental components  736 , or position components  738 , among a wide array of other components. For example, the biometric components  732  include components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facial expressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measure biosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voice identification, retinal identification, facial identification, fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram-based identification), and the like. The motion components  734  include acceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensor components, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth, The environmental components  736  include, for example, illumination sensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components (e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature), humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g., barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphones that detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g., infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gas detection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other components that may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding to a surrounding physical environment. The position components  738  include location sensor components (e.g., a GPS receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived), orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like. 
     Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies. The I/O components  742  further include communication components  740  operable to couple the machine  700  to a network  720  or devices  722  via a coupling  724  and a coupling  726 , respectively. For example, the communication components  740  may include a network interface component or another suitable device to interface with the network  720 . In further examples, the communication components  740  may include wired communication components, wireless communication components, cellular communication components. Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components to provide communication via other modalities. The devices  722  may be another machine or any of a wide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a USB). 
     Moreover, the communication components  740  may detect identifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. For example, the communication components  740  may include Radio Frequency identification (RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detect one-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code, multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Aztec code, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2D bar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components (e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, a variety of information may be derived via the communication components  740 , such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation, location via Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting an NFC beacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth. 
     The various memories (e.g., memory  704 , main memory  712 , static memory  714 , and/or memory of the processors  702 ) and/or storage unit  716  may store one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g., software) embodying or used by any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. These instructions (e.g., the instructions  708 ), when executed by processors  702 , cause various operations to implement the disclosed embodiments. 
     The instructions  708  may be transmitted or received over the network  720 , using a transmission medium, via a network interface device (e.g., a network interface component included in the communication components  740 ) and using any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)). Similarly, the instructions  708  may be transmitted or received using a transmission medium via the coupling  726  (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices  722 . 
     Turning now to  FIG.  8   , there is shown a diagrammatic representation of a processing environment  800 , which includes the processor  806 , the processor  808 , and a processor  802  (e.g., a GPU, CPU or combination thereof). 
     The processor  802  is shown to be coupled to a power source  804 , and to include (either permanently configured or temporarily instantiated) modules, namely a lens publisher  810 , templates  812 , a media library  814 , a media tray  816 , lens features  820 , and triggers  818 . The lens publisher  810  enables a user to build a lens (augmented reality feature) via a template from templates  812  and/or using features from lens features  820 . Templates  812  includes a plurality (e.g., hundreds to thousands) of previously created lenses that comprise a plurality of features. Media library  814  stores the user-created lens. The media tray  816  comprises user files, such as logo, music, sound files, Triggers  818  include actions detected by a camera or other input device that activate the lens feature(s) in a lens. 
     The templates  812  can include templates for a variety industries and categories. For example, industry specific templates may include: Food &amp; Beverage; Personal Care &amp; Beauty; Automotive; Financial Services; Gaming; Travel &amp; Tourism; Restaurants; Retail—Fashion &amp; Apparel; Retail—General; Technology, Media &amp; Telecommunications and others. 
     Lens categories may include: Most popular; Upcoming holidays; Party; humor (“LOL”); Animals; Beauty; Accessories; Morphing; Characters and others. Other 3D lens categories may include animals, ears, lol, beauty, regional, glasses, accessories, characters, morphing, India, cartoon, makeup, flowers, pink, cat, bear, Japanese, playful/lol, and sunglasses. 
     Lens features  820  may include adding a Headdress to an image/video (e.g., self photograph), including: Hat; Headband; Cap; Party hat, etc.; adding Glasses to an image/video including: Sunglasses; Cartoon; etc.; adding visual effects to an image/video including: Bokeh; Confetti; Weather (e.g., snow), etc.; adding color filters to an image/video including Various colors or Vignette, etc.; apply facial effects to an image/video including: Shape/morphing; Smooth skin; adding Eyelashes; applying Lipstick; applying blush, etc. Accordingly, lens features  820  including identifying a relevant body part (e.g., eyes, hair, lips, cheeks, etc.) and overlaying/applying images/effects over the identified body part. 
     Further, uploaded files in the media tray  816  can be used in lens features  820 . For example, for a Logo, the lens publisher  810  can move, scale, rotate, and delete. The same actions can apply to a product image and Gifs in the media tray  816 . 
     Triggers  818  can include actions that activate one or more lens features in a lens. Example triggers include: Open mouth; Raise eyebrows; Tap; Blow a kiss; Smile, etc. 
     Accordingly, an example lens for the food and beverage industry might be displaying a pizza image over a person&#39;s mouth that is triggered by the person opening his/her mouth while simultaneously displaying a logo of a restaurant. 
       FIG.  9    illustrates a method  900  of generating an augmented reality lens from a template in accordance with one embodiment. First, a logo is added (add logo  902 ) either via receiving an upload from a user or the user selecting from the media tray  816 . Then the lens publisher  810  displays industries for the user to select (display industries  904 ) and receives a selection (receive choice of industry  906 ). The lens publisher  810  then prepopulates lens categories based on industry choice  908  and displays lens (e.g., under thumbnails) for each category  910 . The lens publisher  810  then receives lens selection  912  from a user selection. The lens publisher  810  then receives text and/or image to add to lens  914 , if any, from the user. Then the lens publisher  810  receives lens icon and name  916  and saves lens to media library  918 . The method  900  then ends. Note that the method can be performed in an order other than that described above. For example, add logo  902  can be performed after Receive text and/or image to add to lens  914 . Further, many parts of method  900  are optional, such as the add logo  902 . 
     Once a lens is generated, the user or other users can access the lens to generate an augmented reality and transmit it within a message to another user. 
       FIG.  10    illustrates a method  1000  of generating an augmented reality lens in accordance with one embodiment. The method  1000  comprises adding logo  1002  either via receiving an upload from a user or the user selecting from the media tray  816 . In another embodiment, a logo can be pulled from a user&#39;s website or app and added to the media tray  816  for use. Next a lens feature from lens features  820  is added ( 1004 ) based on a user selection of displayed lens features  820 . The display of lens features  820  can be organized based on categories, such as industry, event (e.g., holiday) animals, etc. selected by a user. A 2D overlay can then be added ( 1006 ), which can be autocropped and/or centered ( 1008 ). Music/sound can then be added ( 1010 ) via an uploaded sound file, e.g., from the media tray  816 . A trigger from triggers  818  can then be added ( 1012 ). A post-trigger action can then be defined ( 1014 ) for the trigger, e.g., activating the selected lens feature(s) or a portion of the selected lens feature. A lens name and/or icon can then be added ( 1016 ) and the completed lens is saved ( 1018 ) to the media library  814 . The method  1000  then ends. 
     Note that the method can be performed in an order than that described above. For example, add logo ( 1002 ) can be performed the add lens ( 1016 ) Further, many parts of method  1000  are optional, such as the add logo ( 1002 ). 
     Once a lens is generated, the user or other users can access the lens to generate an augmented reality and transmit it within a message to other users. 
       FIG.  11    illustrates a screen shot of a lens publisher graphical user interface GUI  1100  presenting a choice of lens type creation method. A user can the GUI  1100  to select either starting with a template  1102  corresponding to method  900  or generating a new lens  1104  corresponding to method  1000  using features  1106 , such as feature  1108 , e.g., Groucho glasses. 
       FIG.  12    illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher GUI  1200  presenting industry selection input. If a user proceeds to generate a lens via method  900 , the user can select an industry in item  1202  and upload a logo in item  1204 . Selecting an industry will cause lens publisher  810  to prepopulate lens categories based on industry choice  908 . 
       FIG.  13    illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher GUI  1300  generating an augmented reality effect. Assuming a user is generating a new lens (method  1000 ), the user can select one or more lens features from lens features  820 , such as item  1312  or item  1314 . After selection, the effect of the feature can be viewed on a mobile phone screen reproduction  1316 . Further, photographs of various of people of various races, genders, etc. can by cycled through to confirm the feature is effective on various people. For example, item  1302 -item  1310 . 
       FIG.  14    illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher GUI  1400  generating an augmented reality effect. Various elements can be added to a lens, such as templates, top of head lens features (e.g., item  1314 ), beautification, etc. In addition, sounds and text can be added to the lens via tab  1406  and tab  1408 . Once a lens is completed, it can be pushed to device by a user pressing button  1402 . The lens publisher  810  will then push the generated lens to the mobile phone screen reproduction  1410  and/or a mobile device communicatively coupled to the lens publisher  810 . 
       FIG.  15    illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher GUI  1500  saving a generated augmented reality lens. The lens can be saved at item  1502  and a lens icon be uploaded at item  1504  or a saved icon (e.g., from the media tray  816 ) can be used at item  1506 . 
     In addition to the above, a user can access existing assets in the media tray  816  and save uploaded assets from lens publisher  810  into the same media tray  816 . Lens publisher  810  also provides template swapping functionality. A user can change template of a Lens to Template B after user has started creating a Lens in Template A. This action automatically puts user-uploaded assets (e.g., logo) into Template B. 
     In an embodiment, a User can click a button in the GUI  1500  that duplicates their exact Lens with pre-set changes in it to make a second Lens variant that they can use for creative variant testing. This action does not overwrite first Lens 
     Four variants can be automatically created (user has ability to add or delete variants). The automatically generated variants can follow the rules below:
         Automatic variant creation should change:   If face effects from Lens Publisher  810  exist, auto-adjust the face effect (e.g., increase beautification) for the variant.   If 3D assets from Lens Publisher  810  exist, switch the 3D asset with another one from the same category (e.g., for hat, switch with different hat to create 1 variant).   If no 3D assets from Lens Publisher  810  exist AND user used a template, use the template swapping functionality described above to create variants with different templates.   If no 3D assets from Lens Publisher  810  exist AND user did not use a template (e.g., user only customized with text/logo/images), change logo sizing, text sizing, and color tint of image.       

     Accordingly, the lens publisher  810  and related methods enable a user to generate augmented reality lenses faster than conventional methods. 
     “Signal Medium” refers to any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying the instructions for execution by a machine and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitate communication of software or data. The term “signal medium” shall be taken to include any form of a modulated data signal, carrier wave, and so forth. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a matter as to encode information in the signal. The terms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. 
     “Communication Network” refers to one or more portions of a network that may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, a network or a portion of a network may include a wireless or cellular network and the coupling may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or other types of cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling may implement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1xRTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, others defined by various standard-setting organizations, other long-range protocols, or other data transfer technology. 
     “Processor” refers to any circuit or virtual circuit (a physical circuit emulated by logic executing on an actual processor) that manipulates data values according to control signals (e.g., “commands”, “op codes”, “machine code”, etc.) and which produces corresponding output signals that are applied to operate a machine. A processor may, for example, be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) or any combination thereof. A processor may further be a multi-core processor having two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. 
     “Machine-Storage Medium” refers to a single or multiple storage devices and/or media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store executable instructions, routines and/or data. The term shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media, including memory internal or external to processors. Specific examples of machine-storage media, computer-storage media and/or device-storage media include non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), FPGA, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks The terms “machine-storage medium,” “device-storage medium,” “computer-storage medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms “machine-storage media,” “computer-storage media,” and “device-storage media” specifically exclude carrier waves, modulated data signals, and other such media, at least some of which are covered under the term “signal medium.” 
     “Component” refers to a device, physical entity, or logic having boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branch points, APIs, or other technologies that provide for the partitioning or modularization of particular processing or control functions. Components may be combined via their interfaces with other components to carry out a machine process. A component may be a packaged functional hardware unit designed for use with other components and a part of a program that usually performs a particular function of related functions. Components may constitute either software components (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium) or hardware components. A “hardware component” is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain physical manner. In various example embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computer system, a client computer system, or a server computer system) or one or more hardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group of processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) as a hardware component that operates to perform certain operations as described herein. A hardware component may also be implemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, a hardware component may include dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certain operations. A hardware component may be a special-purpose processor, such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may also include programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardware component may include software executed by a general-purpose processor or other programmable processor. Once configured by such software, hardware components become specific machines (or specific components of a machine) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and are no longer general-purpose processors. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software), may be driven by cost and time considerations. Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component”(or “hardware-implemented component”) should be understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardware components are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of the hardware components need not be configured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example, where a hardware component comprises a general-purpose processor configured by software to become a special-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may be configured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g., comprising different hardware components) at different times. Software accordingly configures a particular processor or processors, for example, to constitute a particular hardware component at one instance of time and to constitute a different hardware component at a different instance of time. Hardware components can provide information to, and receive information from, other hardware components. Accordingly, the described hardware components may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multiple hardware components exist contemporaneously, communications may be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) between or among two or more of the hardware components. In embodiments in which multiple hardware components are configured or instantiated at different times, communications between such hardware components may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiple hardware components have access. For example, one hardware component may perform an operation and store the output of that operation in a memory device to which it is communicatively coupled. A further hardware component may then, at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the stored output. Hardware components may also initiate communications with input or output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection of information). The various operations of example methods described herein may be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that are temporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured to perform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanently configured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented components that operate to perform one or more operations or functions described herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component” refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors. Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partially processor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors being an example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations of a method may be performed by one or more processors  1004  or processor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processors may also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples of machines including processors), with these operations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an API). The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed among the processors, not only residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may be located in a single geographic location (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other example embodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may be distributed across a number of geographic locations. 
     “Carrier Signal” refers to any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitate communication of such instructions. Instructions may be transmitted or received over a network using a transmission medium via a network interface device. 
     “Computer-Readable Medium” refers to both machine-storage media and transmission media. Thus, the terms include both storage devices/media and carrier waves/modulated data signals. The terms “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable medium” and “device-readable medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. 
     “Client Device” refers to any machine that interfaces to a communications network to obtain resources from one or more server systems or other client devices. A client device may be, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks, netbooks, laptops, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any other communication device that a user may use to access a network. 
     “Ephemeral Message” refers to a message that is accessible for a time-limited duration. An ephemeral message may be a text, an image, a video and the like. The access time for the ephemeral message may be set by the message sender. Alternatively, the access time may be a default setting or a setting specified by the recipient. Regardless of the setting technique, the message is transitory. 
     As described above, lenses in accordance with embodiments described herein refer to modifications that may be made to videos or images. This includes both real-time modification which modifies an image as it is captured using a device sensor and then displayed on a screen of the device with the lens modifications. This also includes modifications to stored content, such as video clips in a gallery that may be modified using lenses. For example, in a creator profile with multiple lenses, an authorized third party account may use a single video clip with multiple lenses to see how the different lenses will modify the stored clip. Similarly, real-time video capture may be used with a lens to show how video images currently being captured by sensors of a device would modify the captured data. Such data may simply be displayed on the screen and not stored in memory, or the content captured by the device sensors may be recorded and stored in memory with or without the lens modifications (or both). 
     Lens data and various systems to use lenses and modify content using lenses may thus involve detection of objects (e.g. faces, hands, bodies, cats, dogs, surfaces, objects, etc), tracking of such objects as they leave, enter, and move around the field of view in video frames, and the modification or transformation of such objects as they are tracked. In various embodiments, different methods for achieving such transformations may be used. For example, some embodiments may involve generating a three dimensional mesh model of the object or objects, and using transformations and animated textures of the model within the video to achieve the transformation. In other embodiments, tracking of points on an object may be used to place an image or texture (which may be two dimensional or three dimensional) at the tracked position. In still further embodiments, neural network analysis of video frames may be used to place images, models, or textures in content (e.g. images or frames of video). Lens data thus refers both to the images, models, and textures used to create transformations in content, as well as to additional modeling and analysis information needed to achieve such transformations with object detection, tracking, and placement. 
     Real time video processing can be performed with any kind of video data, (e.g. video streams, video files, etc.) saved in a memory of a computerized system of any kind. For example, a user can load video files and save them in a memory of a device, or can generate a video stream using sensors of the device. Additionally, any objects can be processed using lenses, such as a human&#39;s face and parts of a human body, animals, or non-living things such as chairs, cars, or other objects. 
     In some embodiments, when a lens is selected along with content to be transformed, elements to be transformed by the lenses are identified by the computing device, and then detected and tracked if they are present in the frames of the video. The elements of the object are modified according to the request for modification, thus transforming the frames of the video stream. Transformation of frames of a video stream can be performed by different methods for different kinds of transformation. For example, for transformations of frames mostly referring to changing forms of object&#39;s elements characteristic points for each of element of an object are calculated (e.g. using an Active Shape Model (ASM) or other methods). Then, a mesh based on the characteristic points is generated for each of the at least one element of the object. This mesh used in the following stage of tracking the elements of the object in the video stream. In the process of tracking, the mentioned mesh for each element is aligned with a position of each element. Then, additional points are generated on the mesh. A first set of first points is generated for each element based on a request for modification, and a set of second points is generated for each element based on the set of first points and the request for modification. Then, the frames of the video stream can be transformed by modifying the elements of the object on the basis of the sets of first and second points and the mesh. In such method a background of the modified object can be changed or distorted as well by tracking and modifying the background. 
     In one or more embodiments, transformations changing some areas of an object using its elements can be performed by calculating of characteristic points for each element of an object and generating a mesh based on the calculated characteristic points. Points are generated on the mesh, and then various areas based on the points are generated. The elements of the object are then tracked by aligning the area for each element with a position for each of the at least one element, and properties of the areas can be modified based on the request for modification, thus transforming the frames of the video stream. Depending on the specific request for modification properties of the mentioned areas can be transformed in different ways. Such modifications may involve: changing color of areas; removing at least some part of areas from the frames of the video stream; including one or more new objects into areas which are based on a request for modification; and modifying or distorting the elements of an area or object. In various embodiments, any combination of such modifications or other similar modifications may be used. 
     In some embodiments of lenses using face detection, the face is detected on an image with use of a specific face detection algorithm (e.g. Viola-Jones). Then, an Active Shape Model (ASM) algorithm is applied to the face region of an image to detect facial feature reference points. 
     In other embodiments, other methods and algorithms suitable for face detection can be used. For example, in some embodiments, features are located using a landmark which represents a distinguishable point present in most of the images under consideration. For facial landmarks, for example, the location of the left eye pupil may be used. In an initial landmark is not identifiable (e.g. if a person has an eyepatch), secondary landmarks may be used. Such landmark identification procedures may be used for any such objects. In some embodiments, a set of landmarks forms a shape. Shapes can be represented as vectors using the coordinates of the points in the shape. One shape is aligned to another with a similarity transform (allowing translation, scaling, and rotation) that minimizes the average Euclidean distance between shape points. The mean shape is the mean of the aligned training shapes. 
     In some embodiments, a search for landmarks from the mean shape aligned to the position and size of the face determined by a global face detector is started. Such a search then repeats the steps of suggesting a tentative shape by adjusting the locations of shape points by template matching of the image texture around each point and then conforming the tentative shape to a global shape model until convergence occurs. In some systems, individual template matches are unreliable and the shape model pools the results of the weak template matchers to form a stronger overall classifier. The entire search is repeated at each level in an image pyramid, from coarse to fine resolution. 
     Embodiments of a transformation system can capture an image or video stream on a client device and perform complex image manipulations locally on a client device such as client device  102  while maintaining a suitable user experience, computation time, and power consumption. The complex image manipulations may include size and shape changes, emotion transfers (e.g., changing a face from a frown to a smile), state transfers (e.g., aging a subject, reducing apparent age, changing gender), style transfers, graphical element application, and any other suitable image or video manipulation implemented by a convolutional neural network that has been configured to execute efficiently on a client device. 
     In some example embodiments, lenses may be used by a system where a user may capture an image or video stream of the user (e.g., a selfie) using a client device  102  having a neural network operating as part of a messaging application  104  operating on the client device  102 . The transform system operating within the messaging application  104  determines the presence of a face within the image or video stream and provides modification icons associated with the lenses, or the lenses may be present as associated with an interface described herein. The modification icons include changes which may be the basis for modifying the user&#39;s face within the image or video stream as part of the lens operation. Once a modification icon is selected, the transform system initiates a process to convert the image of the user to reflect the selected modification icon (e.g., generate a smiling face on the user). In some embodiments, a modified image or video stream may be presented in a graphical user interface displayed on the mobile client device as soon as the image or video stream is captured and a specified modification is selected. The transform system may implement a complex convolutional neural network on a portion of the image or video stream to generate and apply the selected modification. That is, the user may capture the image or video stream and be presented with a modified result in real time or near real time once a modification icon has been selected. Further, the modification may be persistent while the video stream is being captured and the selected modification icon remains toggled. Machine taught neural networks may be used to enable such modifications. 
     In some embodiments, the graphical user interface, presenting the modification performed by the transform system, may supply the user with additional interaction options. Such options may be based on the interface used to initiate the content capture and lens selection (e.g. initiation from a content creator user interface). In various embodiments, a modification may be persistent after an initial selection of a modification icon. The user may toggle the modification on or off by tapping or otherwise selecting the face being modified by the transformation system. and store it for later viewing or browse to other areas of the imaging application. Where multiple faces are modified by the transformation system, the user may toggle the modification on or off globally by tapping or selecting a single face modified and displayed within a graphical user interface. In some embodiments, individual faces, among a group of multiple faces, may be individually modified or such modifications may be individually toggled by tapping or selecting the individual face or a series of individual faces displayed within the graphical user interface. 
     Example embodiments include: 
     1. A computer-implemented method of generating an augmented reality lens, comprising:
         causing to display a list of lens categories on a display screen of a client device;   receiving a user choice from the displayed list;   causing to prepopulate a lens features display on the display device based on the user choice, wherein each lens feature comprises image transformation data configured to modify or overlay video or image data;   receiving a user selection of a lens feature from the prepopulated lens display;   receiving a trigger selection that activates the lens feature to complete the lens; and   saving the completed lens to a memory of a computer device.       

     2. The method of example 1, further comprising generating a message using the completed lens and transmitting the message to another client device. 
     3. The method of example 2, wherein the message is an Ephemeral Message. 
     4. The method of example 1, further comprising receiving a post-trigger action definition. 
     5. The method of example 1, further comprising receiving a 2D overlay and adding it to the lens. 
     6. The method of example 1, further comprising receiving a sound file and adding it to the lens. 
     7. The method of example 1, wherein the lens feature includes morphing an image. 
     8. The method of example 1, wherein the lens feature includes overlaying a second image over a first image. 
     9. The method of example 8, further comprising identifying a body part in the first image and overlaying the second image over the identified body part. 
     10. A computer-implemented method of generating an augmented reality lens, comprising:
         causing to display a list of industries on a display screen of a client device;   receiving a user choice of an industry from the displayed list;   causing to prepopulate a lens categories display on the display screen with lens templates based on the user choice;   receiving a user selection of a lens template from the prepopulated lens categories; wherein each lens template comprises image transformation data configured to modify or overlay video or image data;   saving the selected lens template to memory of a computing device; and   transmitting a message generated with the saved lens template via an ephemeral messaging system.       

     11. A system for generating an augmented reality lens, comprising:
         one or more processors of a machine;   a memory storing instruction that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:   causing to display a list of lens categories on a display screen of a client device;   receiving a user choice from the displayed list;   causing to prepopulate a lens features display on the display device based on the user choice, wherein each lens feature comprises image transformation data configured to modify or overlay video or image data;   receiving a user selection of a lens feature from the prepopulated lens display;   receiving a trigger selection that activates the lens feature to complete the lens; and   saving the completed lens to a memory of a computing device.       

     12. The system of example 11, wherein the operations further comprise generating a message using the completed lens and transmitting the message to another client device. 
     13. The system of example 12, wherein the message is an Ephemeral Message. 
     14. The system of example 11, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a post-trigger action definition. 
     15. The system of example 11, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a 2D overlay and adding it to the lens. 
     16. The system of example 11, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a sound file and adding it to the lens. 
     17. The system of example 11, wherein the lens feature includes morphing an image. 
     18. The system of example 11, wherein the lens feature includes overlaying a second image over a first image. 
     19. The system of example 18, wherein the operations further comprise identifying a body part in the first image and overlaying the second image over the identified body part. 
     20. A machine-readable storage device embodying instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
         causing to display a list of lens categories on a display screen of a client device;   receiving a user choice from the displayed list;   causing to prepopulate a lens features display on the display device based on the user choice, wherein each lens feature comprises image transformation data configured to modify or overlay video or image data;   receiving a user selection of a lens feature from the prepopulated lens display;   receiving a trigger selection that activates the lens feature to complete the lens; and   saving the completed lens to a memory of a computing device.