Patent Publication Number: US-2022232115-A1

Title: Eyewear with customizable notifications

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/370,219, filed on Mar. 29, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Some electronics-enabled eyewear devices, such as so-called smart glasses, allow users to selectively capture images and video while a user is engaged in some activity. Such devices include an integrated camera which can be selectively activated to capture images of a user&#39;s environment. Such images can then be downloaded to a user&#39;s mobile device and shared with other users. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate example embodiments of the present disclosure and should not be considered as limiting its scope. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example messaging system for exchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network, according to example embodiments. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram illustrating data which may be stored in the database of a messaging server system, according to example embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a message generated by a messaging client application for communication, according to example embodiments. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an eyewear device according to an example embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing an example notification management system according to an example embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart showing example operations of the notification management system according to an example embodiment. 
         FIGS. 7-8  are illustrative screens of a graphical user interface for customizing notifications of the notification management system according to example embodiments. 
         FIG. 9  is a block diagram illustrating a representative software architecture, which may be used in conjunction with various hardware architectures herein described, according to example embodiments. 
         FIG. 10  is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine able to read instructions from a machine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to example embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The description that follows discusses illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. It will be evident, however, to those skilled in the art, that embodiments of the disclosed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In general, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, and techniques are not necessarily shown in detail. 
     Typical smart glass platforms allow users to read their text messages within the smart glasses. Such platforms are configured to display all of the messages a given user receives in the lenses of the smart glasses. While such systems work well to generally provide a user with all of their messages without disengaging from an activity (e.g., without looking at the user&#39;s phone), such devices inundate the user with too much information making such presentation counterproductive. Namely, such devices fail to selectively present messages of interest to the user which, in turn, ends up frustrating the user even more and ends up distracting the users from activities they are performing. 
     In addition, the typical way of presenting all of the incoming messages in the lenses of the smart glasses ends up consuming a great deal of processing and battery resources. This is because such devices use standard, resource-intensive programming languages and operations to process the incoming messages and further use additional resources to generate such messages for display. As a result, the battery life of these typical smart glasses is very limited, requiring a user to constantly charge the smart glasses for use, which takes away from the appeal and interest of using the smart glasses. 
     The disclosed embodiments improve the efficiency of using the electronic device by selectively informing a user of an electronic eyewear device of incoming messages received by another device, such as a mobile phone. The user is informed about the messages as they are received by the other client device in a non-intrusive manner. Specifically, when the electronic eyewear device receives a notification from the other client device that a message or notification was received by the other client device, the electronic eyewear device processes the notification using a filtering process to determine whether the message is of interest to the user. The user of the electronic eyewear device is informed, by way of a visual indicator, such as a dedicated light-emitting diode, about any notification determined to be of interest to the user. In this way, the user is not informed about notifications that are not of interest to the user, which avoids distracting and disturbing the user from performing an activity. 
     In an implementation, the filtering process includes determining whether the notification includes prespecified notification attributes using a low-power processor on the electronic eyewear device executing a low-power process. Notifications that do not have the prespecified attributes are determined to not be of interest to the user and are filtered out, or simply discarded to avoid distracting the user of the electronic eyewear device. If a notification is determined to have prespecified attributes that are of interest to the user, the electronic eyewear device activates a low-power visual indicator, integrated into the electronic eyewear, in the form of a red, green, and blue light-emitting diode. This visual indicator is activated according to a specific animation, which is user-customizable, such as a particular color and/or blink pattern, that represents the particular notification which informs the user about the contents of the notification in a non-intrusive way. Because the processor executes a low-power process to filter the incoming notifications, and because the visual indicator of the notifications is a low-power device, the battery life of the electronic eyewear device is enhanced. This increases the efficiency, appeal, and utility of electronic eyewear devices. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example messaging system  100  for exchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network  109 . The messaging system  100  includes multiple client devices  102 , each of which hosts a number of applications, including a messaging client application  104  and an operating system  105 . 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  109  (e.g., the Internet). The messaging system  100  includes an eyewear device  119 , which hosts a notification management system  107 , among other applications. The eyewear device  119  is communicatively coupled to the client device  102  via the network  109  (which may include via a dedicated short-range communication path, such as a Bluetooth™ or WiFi direct connection). 
     Each messaging client application  104  is able to communicate and exchange data with another messaging client application  104  and with the messaging server system  108  and eyewear device  119  via the network  109 . The data exchanged between messaging client applications  104  and between a messaging client application  104 , the eyewear device  119 , and the messaging server system  108  includes functions (e.g., commands to invoke functions) as well as payload data (e.g., text, audio, video, notifications, or other multimedia data). 
     The messaging client application  104  presents a graphical user interface to a user for customizing notifications that trigger a visual indicator animation in the eyewear device  119 . For example, the graphical user interface allows a user to specify which users or friends in a contact list are of interest to the user. For such users, the user can select a first animation style for the visual indicator of the eyewear device  119 . For example, the user can specify the first animation style to include a red color that flashes six times within the span of 3 seconds. The graphical user interface allows the user to associate the first animation style with the selected users or friends such that when a message (e.g., a single message service (SMS) or multimedia message) is received from such friends, the visual indicator of the eyewear device  119  is activated according to the first animation style. As another example, the graphical user interface allows a user to specify which applications implemented on the client device  102  are of interest to the user. For such applications, the user can select a second animation style for the visual indicator of the eyewear device  119 . For example, the user can specify the second animation style to include a green color that flashes twice within the span of 5 seconds. The graphical user interface allows the user to associate the second animation style with the selected applications such that when the selected applications generate notifications (e.g., a flight alert, an operation status change, a reminder, a reward, and so forth), the visual indicator of the eyewear device  119  is activated according to the second animation style. 
     After the user confirms the selections on the messaging client application  104  indicating the different animations for the visual indicator for different users and/or applications, the client device  102  communicates the settings to the eyewear device  119  in the form of notification attributes. Particularly, the messaging client application  104  transmits to the notification management system  107  the list of animations and the associated notification attributes of each animation. The notification attributes include an application name, a title, a subtitle, and message contents that represent the various users and/or apps the user selected. The notification management system  107  stores the notification attributes and the associated animation in a local non-volatile storage device. 
     In some embodiments, the user can access the graphical user interface on the client device  102  to view a list of previously set notifications. The user can disable, delete, or modify any previously set notifications on the client device  102 . In response to receiving any changes to the notifications on the client device  102 , the client device  102  communicates with the notification management system  107  to effectuate those changes on the eyewear device  119 . For example, if the user previously enabled notifications with a certain animation for a particular user or group of users, notification attributes and the corresponding animation are stored on the eyewear device  119 . This causes the eyewear device  119  to activate the visual indicator when a message or notification is received on the client device  102  from the particular user or group of users. The user can subsequently access the graphical user interface to delete or disable the previously enabled notification for the particular user or group of users, and in response, the client device communicates with the eyewear device  119  to instruct the eyewear device  119  to delete the notification attributes associated with the user or group of users. This prevents the eyewear device  119  from activating the visual indicator when a message or notification is received on the client device  102  from the particular user or group of users. 
     In an implementation, the messaging client application  104  and all of the other applications implemented on the client device  102  utilize the operating system  105  to trigger notifications and alerts on the client device  102 . The operating system  105  receives the alerts and generates a notification, such as a vibration, on the client device  102  to inform the user that one of the applications has triggered a notification. Particularly, when the messaging client application  104  receives an SMS or other message from a user&#39;s friend on a social network system  122 , the messaging client application  104  sends an instruction to the operating system  105  to trigger a notification. In response, the operating system  105  controls electronic mechanisms on the client device  102 , such as a motor, to generate a vibration to inform the user about the message in addition to displaying a prompt identifying the message. Such notifications may be provided to the operating system  105  with a number of attributes that include the application name (e.g., the name of the messaging client application  104  or other application identifier, the title, such as SMS or the name of the contact from whom the message was received, a subtitle, and message contents). 
     The notification management system  107  communicates with the operating system  105  of the client device  102  to receive notification attributes. Specifically, when the eyewear device  119  has established a secure as Bluetooth low energy (BLE) connection with the client device  102 , the notification management system  107  may receive all of the notifications that the operating system  105  receives from one or more local applications on the client device  102 . The notification management system  107  determines whether or not to activate the local visual indicator of the eyewear device  119  based on the previously defined and selected notification attributes. 
     For example, the notification management system  107  loads, one at a time, each previously stored notification attribute from the non-volatile memory to a volatile memory of the local processor, such as a cache line or register. The notification management system  107  also loads the currently received notification attributes into the volatile memory of the local processor and performs a simple non-complex comparison operation using the local processor. If the comparison indicates that the attributes match, the notification management system  107  obtains the animation associated with the currently loaded, previously stored notification attributes and activates the local visual indicator according to the obtained animation. If the comparison indicates that any one of the attributes does not match the attributes of the received notification, the notification management system  107  loads a next notification attribute into the volatile memory location for comparison. If none of the previously stored notification attributes matches the currently received notification attributes, the notification management system  107  discards the notification that was received from the operating system  105  and prevents activating the visual indicator of the eyewear device  119 . 
     The messaging server system  108  provides server-side functionality via the network  109  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 , it will be appreciated that 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, virtual objects, message content persistence conditions, social network information, and live event information, notifications, 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  111 . The application server  111  is communicatively coupled to a database server  117 , which facilitates access to a database  120  in which is stored data associated with messages processed by the application server  111 . 
     Dealing specifically with the API server  110 , this server  110  receives and transmits message data (e.g., commands and message payloads) between the client device  102  and the application server  111 . Specifically, the 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  111 . The API server  110  exposes various functions supported by the application server  111 , including account registration; login functionality; the sending of messages, via the application server  111 , 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 such collections; the retrieval of a list of friends of a user of a client device  102 ; the retrieval of messages and content; the adding and deleting of friends to a social graph; the location of friends within a social graph; access to user conversation data; access to avatar information stored on messaging server system  108 ; and opening an application event (e.g., relating to the messaging client application  104 ). 
     The application server  111  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  111  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 and 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 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. Such other users may be referred to as the user&#39;s friends. Social network system  122  may access location information associated with each of the user&#39;s friends to determine where they live or are currently located geographically. Social network system  122  may maintain a location profile for each of the user&#39;s friends indicating the geographical location where the user&#39;s friends live. 
     The application server  111  is communicatively coupled to a database server  117 , 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 a schematic diagram  200  illustrating data, 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  214 . An entity table  202  stores entity data, including an entity graph  204 . Entities for which records are maintained within the entity table  202  may include individuals, corporate entities, organizations, objects, places, events, and so forth. 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  204  furthermore stores information regarding relationships and associations between entities. Such relationships may be social, professional (e.g., work at a common corporation or organization), interest-based, or activity-based, merely for example. 
     Message table  214  may store a collection of conversations between a user and one or more friends or entities. Message table  214  may include various attributes of each conversation, such as the list of participants, the size of the conversation (e.g., number of users and/or number of messages), the chat color of the conversation, a unique identifier for the conversation, and any other conversation related feature(s). 
     The database  120  also stores annotation data, in the example form of filters, in an annotation table  212 . Database  120  also stores annotated content received in the annotation table  212 . Filters for which data is stored within the annotation table  212  are associated with and applied to videos (for which data is stored in a video table  210 ) and/or images (for which data is stored in an image table  208 ). 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 various 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 UI by the messaging client application  104 , based on geolocation information determined by a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit of the client device  102 . Another type of filter is a data filter, 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. Examples 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  208  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  210  stores video data which, in one embodiment, is associated with messages for which records are maintained within the message table  214 . Similarly, the image table  208  stores image data associated with messages for which message data is stored in the entity table  202 . The entity table  202  may associate various annotations from the annotation table  212  with various images and videos stored in the image table  208  and the video table  210 . 
     A story table  206  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  202 ). 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 UI 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. For example, a “live story” may constitute a curated stream of user-submitted content from various 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 UI 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. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a message  300 , according to 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  300  is used to populate the message table  214  stored within the database  120 , accessible by the messaging server application  114 . Similarly, the content of a message  300  is stored in memory as “in-transit” or “in-flight” data of the client device  102  or the application server  111 . The message  300  is shown to include the following components:
         A message identifier  302 : a unique identifier that identifies the message  300 .   A message text payload  304 : text, to be generated by a user via a UI of the client device  102  and that is included in the message  300 .   A message image payload  306 : image data, captured by a camera component of a client device  102  or retrieved from memory of a client device  102 , and that is included in the message  300 .   A message video payload  308 : 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  300 .   A message audio payload  310 : audio data, captured by a microphone or retrieved from the memory component of the client device  102 , and that is included in the message  300 .   Message annotations  312 : annotation data (e.g., filters, stickers, or other enhancements) that represents annotations to be applied to message image payload  306 , message video payload  308 , or message audio payload  310  of the message  300 .   A message duration parameter  314 : parameter value indicating, in seconds, the amount of time for which content of the message (e.g., the message image payload  306 , message video payload  308 , message audio payload  310 ) is to be presented or made accessible to a user via the messaging client application  104 .   A message geolocation parameter  316 : geolocation data (e.g., latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates) associated with the content payload of the message. Multiple message geolocation parameter  316  values may be included in the payload, with each of these parameter values being associated with respect to content items included in the content (e.g., a specific image within the message image payload  306 , or a specific video in the message video payload  308 ).   A message story identifier  318 : identifier value identifying one or more content collections (e.g., “stories”) with which a particular content item in the message image payload  306  of the message  300  is associated. For example, multiple images within the message image payload  306  may each be associated with multiple content collections using identifier values.   A message tag  320 : each message  300  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  306  depicts an animal (e.g., a lion), a tag value may be included within the message tag  320  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  322 : 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  300  was generated and from which the message  300  was sent.   A message receiver identifier  324 : an identifier (e.g., a messaging system identifier, email address, or device identifier) indicative of user(s) of the client device  102  to which the message  300  is addressed. In the case of a conversation between multiple users, the identifier may indicate each user involved in the conversation.       

     The contents (e.g., values) of the various components of message  300  may be pointers to locations in tables within which content data values are stored. For example, an image value in the message image payload  306  may be a pointer to (or address of) a location within an image table  208 . Similarly, values within the message video payload  308  may point to data stored within a video table  210 , values stored within the message annotations  312  may point to data stored in an annotation table  212 , values stored within the message story identifier  318  may point to data stored in a story table  206 , and values stored within the message sender identifier  322  and the message receiver identifier  324  may point to user records stored within an entity table  202 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a front perspective view of an eyewear device  119  in the form of a pair of smart glasses that include a notification management system  107  according to one example embodiment. The eyewear device  119  includes a body  103  comprising a front piece or frame  106  and a pair of temples  109  connected to the frame  106  for supporting the frame  106  in position on a user&#39;s face when the eyewear device  119  is worn. The frame  106  can be made from any suitable material such as plastics or metal, including any suitable shape memory alloy. 
     The eyewear device  119  includes a pair of optical elements in the form of a pair of lenses  112  held by corresponding optical element holders in the form of a pair of rims  115  forming part of the frame  106 . The rims  115  are connected by a bridge  118 . In other embodiments, one or both of the optical elements can be a display, a display assembly, or a lens and display combination. 
     The frame  106  includes a pair of end pieces  121  defining lateral end portions of the frame  106 . In this example, a variety of electronics components are housed in one or both of the end pieces  121 . The temples  109  are coupled to the respective end pieces  121 . In this example, the temples  109  are coupled to the frame  106  by respective hinges so as to be hingedly movable between a wearable mode and a collapsed mode in which the temples  109  are pivoted towards the frame  106  to lie substantially flat against it. In other embodiments, the temples  109  can be coupled to the frame  106  by any suitable means, or can be rigidly or fixedly secured to the frame  106  so as to be integral therewith. 
     Each of the temples  109  that includes a front portion of that is coupled to the frame  106  and any suitable rear portion for coupling to the ear of the user, such as the curves or cute piece illustrated in the example embodiment of  FIG. 4 . In some embodiments, the frame  106  is formed of a single piece of material, so as to have a unitary or monolithic construction. In some embodiments, the whole of the body  103  (including both the frame  106  and the temples  109 ) can be of the unitary or monolithic construction. 
     The eyewear device  119  has onboard electronics components including a computing device, such as a computer  124 , or low power processor, which can in different embodiments be of any suitable type so as to be carried by the body  103 . In some embodiments, the computer  124  is at least partially housed in one or both of the temples  109 . In the present embodiment, various components of the computer  124  are housed in the lateral end pieces  121  of the frame  106 . The computer  124  includes one or more processors with memory (e.g., a volatile storage device, such as random access memory or registers), a storage device (e.g., a non-volatile storage device), wireless communication circuitry (e.g., BLE communication devices and/or WiFi direct devices), and a power source. The computer  124  comprises low-power circuitry, high-speed circuitry, and, in some embodiments, a display processor. Various embodiments may include these elements in different configurations or integrated together in different ways. 
     The computer  124  additionally includes a battery  127  or other suitable portable power supply. In one embodiment, the battery  127  is disposed in one of the temples  109 . In the eyewear device  119  shown in  FIG. 4 , the battery  127  is shown as being disposed in one of the end pieces  121 , being electrically coupled to the remainder of the computer  124  housed in the corresponding end piece  121 . 
     The eyewear device  119  is camera-enabled, in this example comprising a camera  130  mounted in one of the end pieces  121  and facing forwards so as to be aligned more or less with the direction of view of a wearer of the eyewear device  119 . The camera  130  is configured to capture digital images (also referred to herein as digital photographs or pictures) as well as digital video content. Operation of the camera  130  is controlled by a camera controller provided by the computer  124 , image data representative of images or video captured by the camera  130  being temporarily stored on a memory forming part of the computer  124 . In some embodiments, the eyewear device  119  can have a pair of cameras  130 , e.g. housed by the respective end pieces  121 . 
     As will be described in greater detail below, the onboard computer  124  and the lenses  112  are configured together to provide a notification management system  107  that automatically presents alerts to a user by animating one or more visual indicators  401 , such as one or more red, green, blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The visual indicators  401  can be disposed on any portion of the eyewear device  119 . For example, a first of the visual indicators  401  can be included on one of the end pieces  121  and a second of the visual indicators  401  (not shown) can be included on a second one of the end pieces  121 . The visual indicators  401  can be animated such that they emit light with a particular color, for a particular duration of time, and blink on and off a particular number of times. The visual indicators  401  can operate synchronously or asynchronously. When they operate synchronously, the visual indicators  401  animate to generate the same pattern of light in the same color. When they operate asynchronously, one visual indicator emits light in a first color (orange), that blinks on and off a first number of times, where each blink is on for a first amount of time; and the other visual indicator emits light in a second color (blue), that blinks on and off a second number of times, where each blink is on for a second amount of time. The animation can be specified by a user of the client device (e.g., mobile device)  102  using a graphical user interface of the messaging client application  104 . 
     The eyewear device  119  further includes one or more input and output devices permitting communication with and control of the camera  130 . In particular, the eyewear device  119  includes one or more input mechanisms for enabling user control of one or more functions of the eyewear device  119 . In this embodiment, the input mechanism comprises a button  402  mounted on the frame  106  so as to be accessible on top of one of the end pieces  121  for pressing by the user. In addition to any other functions that may be controlled by operation of the button  402 , the button  402  in this example enables the user to trigger photo capture by the camera  130 . In the current example embodiment, a photo capture command can be issued by a single, relatively short button press (e.g., shorter than a second), while a video capture command can be issued by a press-and-hold action. 
     The eyewear device  119  further includes one or more communication devices, such as Bluetooth low energy (BLE) communication interface. Such BLE communication interface enables the eyewear device  119  to communicate wirelessly with the client device  102 . Other forms of wireless communication can also be employed instead of, or in addition to, the BLE communication interface, such as a WiFi direct interface. The BLE communication interface implements a standard number of BLE communication protocols. 
     A first of the communications protocols implemented by the BLE interface of the eyewear device  119  enables an unencrypted link to be established between the eyewear device  119  and the client device  102 . In this first protocol, the link-layer communication (the physical interface or medium) between the eyewear device  119  and the client device  102  includes unencrypted data. In this first protocol, the application layer (the communication layer operating on the physically exchanged data) encrypts and decrypts data that is physically exchanged in unencrypted form over the link layer of the BLE communication interface. In this way, data exchanged over the physical layer can freely be read by an eavesdropping device, but the eavesdropping device will not be able to decipher the data that is exchanged without performing a decryption operation in the application layer. 
     A second of the communications protocols implemented by the BLE interface of the eyewear device  119  enables an encrypted link to be established between the eyewear device  119  and the client device  102 . In this second protocol, the link-layer communication (the physical interface) between the eyewear device  119  and the client device  102  receives data from the application layer and adds a first type of encryption to the data before exchanging the data over the physical medium. In this second protocol, the application layer (the communication layer operating on the physically exchanged data) may or may not use a second type of encryption to encrypt and decrypt data that is physically exchanged in encrypted form, using the first type of encryption, over the link layer of the BLE communication interface. Namely, data can be first encrypted by the application layer and then be further encrypted by the physical layer before being exchanged over the physical medium. Following the exchange over the physical medium, the data is then decrypted by the physical layer and then decrypted again (e.g., using a different type of encryption) by the application layer. In this way, data exchanged over the physical layer cannot be read by an eavesdropping device as the data is encrypted in the physical medium. 
     Certain applications implemented on the client device  102  that utilize the eyewear device  119  allow communications between the client device  102  and the eyewear device  119  over the BLE communication interface only through the second communication protocol. For example, the messaging client application  104  may communicate with the eyewear device  119  over the first protocol in which data in the physical layer is unencrypted while the operating system  105  may only communicate with the eyewear device  119  over the second protocol in which the data in the physical layer is encrypted. In certain embodiments, the eyewear device  119  may switch from communicating with the client device  102  using the first protocol to using the second protocol based on which application is attempting to exchange data with the eyewear device  119 . In certain embodiments, once the second protocol is configured to communicate with the client device  102 , the eyewear device  119  will communicate with all of the applications of the client device  102  using the second protocol when any one of the applications allows communication using the first protocol. 
     In some embodiments, the client device  102  communicates with the eyewear device  119  using the first protocol to exchange images or videos between the messaging client application  104  and the eyewear device  119 . For example, the messaging client application  104  may download from the eyewear device  119  all or a portion of the images and videos stored on the eyewear device  119  using the first protocol. In some embodiments, a user may request, by selecting an option in the messaging client application  104 , to enable notification alerts in the eyewear device  119 . Enabling notification alerts may cause the visual indicators of the eyewear device  119  to selectively, and in a customizable manner, animate to emit light patterns to represent one or more messages received by the client device  102 . In such cases, the eyewear device  119  receives notifications from the operating system  105  (independently of whether the messaging client application  104  is currently running). The notifications indicate new messages being received or alerts provided and generated by one or more applications implemented on the client device  102 . In response to receiving the request to enable the notification alerts, the eyewear device  119  may switch to the second protocol from the first protocol in order to enable the eyewear device to communicate with the operating system  105 . To switch to the second protocol, a visual dialog may be presented on the client device  102  to confirm Bluetooth communication exchange with the eyewear device  119 . Once the confirmation is received from the user of the client device  102 , the second protocol is utilized to communicate with the eyewear device  119 . 
     In some embodiments, the eyewear device  119  is shared between different users and between different client devices  102 . For example, the eyewear device  119  may currently be communicating with a first client device  102  using the second protocol because a user of the eyewear device  119  is interested in receiving notification alerts on the eyewear device  119 . Following a request received to establish a communication with a second client device  102 , the eyewear device  119  may determine whether the eyewear device  119  previously communicated with the second device  102  utilizing the second communication protocol. For example, the eyewear device  119  stores in memory client device identifiers and protocol information that indicates the protocol used to communicate with the client devices. Alternatively, the eyewear device  119  stores in memory client device identifiers and indications of whether notification alerts have been enabled for that client device on the eyewear device  119 . In response to determining that the second client device has not previously communicated with the eyewear device  119  using the second protocol (e.g., if the memory indicates that the client device identifier is associated with a disabled state of the notification alerts), the eyewear device  119  automatically switches to the first protocol to communicate with the second client device  102 . In response to determining that the second client device has previously communicated with the eyewear device  119  using the second protocol (e.g., if the memory indicates that the client device identifier is associated with an enabled state of the notification alerts), the eyewear device  119  maintains the second protocol and establishes a communication session with the second client device  102  using the second protocol. This avoids needlessly presenting the dialog to allow Bluetooth communications using the second protocol if a given user of a client device does not have an interest receiving notification alerts when using the eyewear device  119 . 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing an example notification management system  107  according to an example embodiment. Notification management system  107  includes a client device identification module  540 , a BLE interface module  510 , a new notification detection module  519 , a notification attribute match detection module  516 , a notification attribute selection module  511 , an animation selection module  518 , and a visual indicator activation module  520 . 
     BLE interface module  510  includes interface devices used to establish a BLE connection with a particular client device  102 . The BLE interface module  510  implements a number of BLE protocols including the first BLE protocol in which the link layer physical data exchange is unencrypted and a second BLE protocol in which the link layer physical data exchange is encrypted. 
     Client device identification module  540  communicates with the BLE interface module  510  to determine a device identifier of a client device  102  with which the eyewear device  119  is communicating. In some implementations, client device  102  transmits unencrypted messages in a broadcast manner to indicate to nearby devices that the client device  102  is ready to establish a BLE connection. Such broadcast messages include a device identifier of the client device  102  and various other Bluetooth-specific parameters. The BLE interface module  510  reads the broadcast messages to obtain the device identifier. The BLE interface module  510  communicates with the client device identification module  540  to determine whether the device identifier matches any previously stored device identifiers. Namely, once the eyewear device  119  establishes a connection with a new client device  102 , the eyewear device  119  stores the device identifier in the client device identification module  540 . The client device identification module  540  also stores an indication of the BLE protocol used to communicate with the associated client device. 
     In response to determining that the device identifier received from the nearby device matches the device identifier in the client device identification module  540 , the BLE interface module  510  obtains the BLE protocol stored in association with the device identifier in the client device identification module  540 . For example, the BLE interface module  510  obtains the first BLE protocol along with the corresponding encryption keys used to communicate with the client device  102  associated with the particular device identifier. The BLE interface module  510  then sends a message back to the client device  102  with various BLE parameters to establish the BLE connection with the client device  102  using the first BLE protocol. In response to determining that the device identifier received from the nearby device matches the device identifier in the client device identification module  540 , the client device identification module  540  sends the client device identifier to the notification attribute selection module  511 . 
     Notification attribute selection module  511  stores, in a non-volatile memory of the eyewear device  119 , a list with notification attributes and corresponding visual indicator animations. The list may be associated with multiple device identifiers to allow multiple users to share access to the eyewear device  119 . Only one set of notification attributes associated with the same device identifier may be active at a given time. Namely, the notification attribute selection module  511  may access or activate the list of notification attributes associated with the device identifier received from the client device identification module  540 . In an implementation, the activated list may be moved to a new temporary storage location of the eyewear device  119 . 
     In some implementations, new notification attributes are added to the list stored by the notification attribute selection module  511  as a user enables or modifies notification settings on the client device  102  (e.g., via the graphical user interface on the client device  102 ). For example, a user utilizes the graphical user interface to enable notifications on the eyewear device  119  when video/image messages are received from a particular friend and can also specify the type of animation for the visual indicator (e.g., a red light that blinks 5 times). In response, the client device  102  sends data to the notification attribute selection module  511  with the notification attributes associated with this selection, and these notification attributes are stored in the list in association with the identifier of the client device  102 . In some implementations, the notification attribute selection module  511  deletes previously stored notification attributes and the corresponding visual indicator animations from the list in response to receiving data from the client device  102  indicating that the user deleted or made changes to the previously set notification attributes. For example, the user can subsequently access the graphical user interface to delete or disable notifications from the particular friend. In response, the client device  102  communicates an instruction to the notification attribute selection module  511  to delete the notification attributes associated with the particular friend from the list that is associated with the identifier of the client device  102 . Notification attribute selection module  511  may then remove from the list stored in the non-volatile storage device the corresponding notification attributes to prevent activation of the visual indicator on the eyewear device  119  when messages are received from the particular friend on the client device  102 . 
     The new notification detection module  519  receives from the BLE interface module  510  various data that is exchanged with the client device  102 . In an implementation, the new notification detection module  519  determines that the given set of data corresponds to a notification that is received from the operating system  105  of the client device  102 . In such cases, the new notification detection module  519  retrieves a set of attributes (e.g., application name, title, subtitle, message contents, and so forth) from the newly received notification. The new notification detection module  519  provides the set of notification attributes to the notification attribute match detection module  516 . 
     Notification attribute match detection module  516  loads the set of attributes of the new notification into a first storage location of a volatile memory, such as a cache line or registry, of the processor of the eyewear device  119 . The notification attribute match detection module  516  retrieves notification attributes of a first notification stored in the active list of the notification attribute selection module  511 . For example, the retrieved notification attributes of the first notification include an application name (e.g., a messaging application identifier), a title (e.g., an SMS message), and a subtitle (e.g., a user identifier). The notification attribute match detection module  516  loads the notification attributes of the first notification into a second storage location of the volatile memory of the processor of the eyewear device  119 . The notification attribute match detection module  516  instructs the processor of the eyewear device  119  to perform a storage location comparison operation (e.g., an XOR logic operation) on the first and second storage locations to determine whether the storage locations match. 
     In response to determining that the comparison operation indicates the storage locations fail to match (e.g., the XOR logic operation is greater than ‘0’), such as because at least one of the loaded attributes of the first notification (e.g., the user identifier) failed to match the user identifier stored in the newly received notification attribute (e.g., the subtitle of the newly received notification attribute is different from the subtitle of the first notification), the notification attribute match detection module  516  retrieves attributes of a second active notification from the notification attribute selection module  511 . The attributes of the second notification are stored in the second storage location of the volatile memory of the processor to replace the previously stored attributes that failed to match. The notification attribute match detection module  516  instructs the processor to again compare the two storage locations to determine whether they match each other. 
     In response to determining that the comparison operation indicates the storage locations match (e.g., the XOR logic operation is equal to ‘0’), the notification attribute match detection module  516  instructs the animation selection module  518  to retrieve a visual indicator animation associated with the notification for which the attributes matched the newly received notification attributes. For example, if the attributes of the second notification retrieved from the notification attribute selection module  511  are determined to match the attributes of the newly received notification, the animation selection module  518  is instructed to obtain the animation stored in association with the second notification. 
     The animation selection module  518  access the list of active stored notification attributes to obtain the animation for the visual indicator associated with the matching notification. For example, the matching notification (e.g., the second notification) is associated with an animation in which a red light flashes 5 times within the span of 3 seconds. The animation selection module  518  provides the retrieved animation to the visual indicator activation module  520 . In some implementations, the animation selection module  518  stores, in a non-volatile storage device, a default list of animations associated with specific notification attributes. For example, a notification attribute having an application title that is a messaging application and a title being a text message can be associated with a first animation and a notification attribute having an application title that is an email application and a title being an email can be associated with a second animation. In such cases, the animation selection module  518  may obtain the notification attributes from the second storage location of the volatile memory and search a non-volatile storage device the animation that corresponds to the obtained notification attributes. 
     The visual indicator activation module  520  receives the animation and instructs the visual indicator  401  of the eyewear device  119  to activate according to the animation. For example, the animation specifies a red color that blinks 10 times within the span of 10 seconds. In such cases, the visual indicator activation module  520  instructs the visual indicator  401  to turn on with a red light output for 0.5 seconds, then turn off for 0.5 seconds and repeat the process for a total of 10 seconds. Any number of different animations can be specified that vary in terms of light color, duration of on time, duration of off time, and number of times the light is turned on/off in a given period. 
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating example operations of the notification management system  107  in performing a process  600 , according to example embodiments. The process  600  may be embodied in computer-readable instructions for execution by one or more processors such that the operations of the process  600  may be performed in part or in whole by the functional components of the notification management system  107 ; accordingly, the process  600  is described below by way of example with reference thereto. However, in other embodiments, at least some of the operations of the process  600  may be deployed on various other hardware configurations. The process  600  is therefore not intended to be limited to the notification management system  107  and can be implemented in whole, or in part, by any other component. Some or all of the operations of process  600  can be in parallel, out of order, or entirely omitted. 
     At operation  601 , the notification management system  107  receives, by an eyewear device from a mobile device, data indicative of a first combination of notification attributes that trigger a first alert on the eyewear device. For example, the notification attribute selection module  511  stores, in a non-volatile memory of the eyewear device  119 , a list of notification attributes (for one or more users) that are specified by a user of the messaging client application  104  as being of interest. 
     At operation  602 , the notification management system  107  determines that the mobile device has received a new notification. For example, the new notification detection module  519  communicates with the operating system  105  of a client device  102  with which a BLE connection is established to received notifications that are generated locally by one or more applications implemented on the client device  102 . 
     At operation  603 , the notification management system  107  determines whether a combination of attributes of the new notification matches the first combination of notification attributes. For example, the notification attribute match detection module  516  utilizes two volatile memory locations of a processor of the eyewear device  119  to compare using simple registry operations notification attributes of the newly received notification from the operating system  105  and each active notification obtained from the notification attribute selection module  511 . The notifications are sequentially loaded into the same volatile memory location and compared to reduce the amount of volatile memory locations needed. 
     At operation  604 , the notification management system  107 , in response to determining that the combination of the attributes of the new notification matches the first combination of notification attributes, retrieves, from a storage device of the eyewear device, a first visual indicator animation that represents the first alert. For example, animation selection module  518  obtains an animation for a visual indicator that is associated with a given notification for which the attributes match the attributes of a newly received notification. 
     At operation  605 , the notification management system  107  activates a visual indicator of the eyewear device  119  in accordance with the retrieved first visual indicator animation to generate the first alert on the eyewear device  119 . For example, the visual indicator activation module  520  activates the visual indicator  401  of the eyewear device  119  according to the animation provided by the animation selection module  518 . In this way, if a particular notification has attributes identifying an SMS message received from a first friend and is associated with a first animation (e.g., red light flashing 6 times within the span of 2 seconds), the visual indicator  401  is activated according to the first animation when a newly received notification is determined to have attributes identifying the SMS message received from the first friend. As another example, if a particular notification has attributes identifying an email received from anyone and is associated with a second animation (e.g., green light flashing 2 times within the span of 2 seconds), the visual indicator  401  is activated according to the second animation when a newly received notification is determined to have attributes identifying the email message. 
       FIGS. 7-8  are illustrative screens of a graphical user interface for customizing notifications of the notification management system  107  according to example embodiments. The screens shown in  FIGS. 7-8  may be provided by the messaging client application  104  of one or more client devices  102  and/or other applications implemented on one or more client devices  102 . In an implementation, a user accesses the notification menu of the messaging client application  104 . The notification menu allows a user to enable notifications on the eyewear device  119 . As discussed previously, when notifications are enabled for the first time for a given client device  102 , on the eyewear device  119  coupled to the client device  102 , the eyewear device  119  switches from the first BLE protocol to the second BLE protocol, which encrypts the link layer physical data that is exchanged with the client device  102 . 
     In an embodiment, the user accesses the notifications menu and taps on or otherwise selects an SMS menu item that is displayed. In response, a screen is presented with an enable option  703  presented in a disabled state. In response to the user tapping on or otherwise selecting an enable option  703 , the SMS notifications are enabled for triggering a visual indicator on the eyewear device  119 . The user can select an animation for the visual indicator associated with SMS notifications using the color option  704 . Other options (not shown) allow the user to specify other animation characteristics for the visual indicator, such as the blink pattern (e.g., number of blinks and duration of each blink) for the visual indicator associated with the SMS notifications. The user can vary attributes of the notification by selecting options  705  identifying contacts from whom receipt of messages trigger activation of the visual indicator. A checkmark next to a contact shown in  FIG. 7  indicates that the user selected that contact, such that receipt of an SMS from that contact will trigger the visual indicator on the eyewear device  119  to be animated according to the animation selected using option  704  (and others). As shown, the user has selected a first color (e.g., green) for the option  704  which is also reflected in the indicator  702  showing that SMS messages will activate a visual indicator on the eyewear device  119  with the first color. A different color  701  can be specified for image/video messages that are received from the same or a different set of users, which the user can specify in  FIG. 8 . 
     As an example, after the user selects the contacts by selecting options  705 , notification attributes are generated to be provided to the non-volatile storage device of the eyewear device  119 . For example, the notification attributes include an application name attribute (e.g., messaging application, SMS application), a title attribute (e.g., SMS message), and a subtitle attribute (e.g., the name or names or identifiers of the users selected in the options  705 ). 
     A user can similarly configure notification attributes for various applications that are implemented on the client device  102 . For example, the user can access the “other apps” option from the graphical user interface and be presented with a list of applications that are implemented or installed on the client device  102 . By default, all of the notifications for each of the applications are disabled such that when the operating system of the client device  102  receives a notification from the apps on the client device  102  and delivers the notification to the eyewear device  119 , the eyewear device  119  filters the notification and does not activate the visual indicator. The user can tap or otherwise select a given option  706  for each application for which the user would like the eyewear device  119  to alert the user by activating the visual indicator of the eyewear device  119 . For example, the user can select the option  706  for the Lyft application (e.g., a ride sharing application). In this way, any notification that the client device  102  receives from that application (e.g., car is arriving or a new passenger is getting picked up or destination is being reached), results in the eyewear device  119  triggering the visual indicator and activating the visual indicator according to the animation associated with the selected application. As an example, the user selected a given color (e.g., blue) for the Lyft application (or for all of the listed applications for which notifications are enabled—Lyft and Venmo) which will activate a visual indicator on the eyewear device  119  with the given color when that application generates a notification on the client device  102 . 
     The user can specify different animations for different types or urgency of alerts generated by the applications using the graphical user interface. For example, the user can select to have the visual indicator of the eyewear device  119  light up in a first color and with a first blinking pattern for when a car-is-arriving notification is generated by the Lyft application. Also, the user can select to have the visual indicator of the eyewear device  119  light up in a second color and with a second blinking pattern for when a destination-is-being-reached notification is generated by the Lyft application. If any notification is marked as urgent by a given application, the user can specify a specific animation for the visual indicator that indicates an urgent notification (e.g., a red light that blinks very quickly 100 times within the span of 20 seconds). 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , the user can select enable option  801  to enable image/video messages received from a messaging client application  104 . The user can select option  802  to navigate to a graphical user interface that allows the user to select options shown in screen  803  identifying specific friends from whom receipt of image/video messages trigger activation of the visual indicator. A checkmark next to a friend shown in  FIG. 8  indicates that the user selected that friend, such that receipt of an image/video message from that friend will trigger the visual indicator on the eyewear device  119  to be animated according to the animation selected for that friend. The user can select a best friends option to have image/video messages received from a pre-specified list of friends that the user has previously identified as best friends trigger notifications on the eyewear device  119 . The user can select a particular animation for the visual indicator to associate with such messages received from best friends, which may be different than the animation of the visual indicator that is associated with messages received from specific friends. 
       FIG. 9  is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture  906 , which may be used in conjunction with various hardware architectures herein described.  FIG. 9  is a non-limiting example of a software architecture and it will be appreciated that many other architectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionality described herein. The software architecture  906  may execute on hardware such as machine  1000  of  FIG. 10  that includes, among other things, processors  1004 , memory  1014 , and input/output (I/O) components  1018 . A representative hardware layer  952  is illustrated and can represent, for example, the machine  1000  of  FIG. 10 . The representative hardware layer  952  includes a processing unit  954  having associated executable instructions  904 . Executable instructions  904  represent the executable instructions of the software architecture  906 , including implementation of the methods, components, and so forth described herein. The hardware layer  952  also includes memory and/or storage modules memory/storage  956 , which also have executable instructions  904 . The hardware layer  952  may also comprise other hardware  958 . 
     In the example architecture of  FIG. 9 , the software architecture  906  may be conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer provides particular functionality. For example, the software architecture  906  may include layers such as an operating system  902 , libraries  920 , frameworks/middleware  918 , applications  916 , and a presentation layer  914 . Operationally, the applications  916  and/or other components within the layers may invoke API calls  908  through the software stack and receive messages  912  in response to the API calls  908 . The layers illustrated are representative in nature and not all software architectures have all layers. For example, some mobile or special purpose operating systems may not provide a frameworks/middleware  918 , while others may provide such a layer. Other software architectures may include additional or different layers. 
     The operating system  902  may manage hardware resources and provide common services. The operating system  902  may include, for example, a kernel  922 , services  924 , and drivers  926 . The kernel  922  may act as an abstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers. For example, the kernel  922  may be responsible for memory management, processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management, networking, security settings, and so on. The services  924  may provide other common services for the other software layers. The drivers  926  are responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware. For instance, the drivers  926  include display drivers, camera drivers, Bluetooth® 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 depending on the hardware configuration. 
     The libraries  920  provide a common infrastructure that is used by the applications  916  and/or other components and/or layers. The libraries  920  provide functionality that allows other software components to perform tasks in an easier fashion than to interface directly with the underlying operating system  902  functionality (e.g., kernel  922 , services  924  and/or drivers  926 ). The libraries  920  may include system libraries  944  (e.g., C standard library) that may provide functions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions, mathematical functions, and the like. In addition, the libraries  920  may include API libraries  946  such as media libraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of various media format such as MPREG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework that may be used to render two-dimensional and three-dimensional in a graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite that may provide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit that may provide web browsing functionality), and the like. The libraries  920  may also include a wide variety of other libraries  948  to provide many other APIs to the applications  916  and other software components/modules. 
     The frameworks/middleware  918  (also sometimes referred to as middleware) provide a higher-level common infrastructure that may be used by the applications  916  and/or other software components/modules. For example, the frameworks/middleware  918  may provide various graphic UI (GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level location services, and so forth. The frameworks/middleware  918  may provide a broad spectrum of other APIs that may be utilized by the applications  916  and/or other software components/modules, some of which may be specific to a particular operating system  902  or platform. 
     The applications  916  include built-in applications  938  and/or third-party applications  940 . Examples of representative built-in applications  938  may include, but are not limited to, a contacts application, a browser application, a book reader application, a location application, a media application, a messaging application, and/or a game application. Third-party applications  940  may include an application developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform, and may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such as IOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. The third-party applications  940  may invoke the API calls  908  provided by the mobile operating system (such as operating system  902 ) to facilitate functionality described herein. 
     The applications  916  may use built-in operating system functions (e.g., kernel  922 , services  924 , and/or drivers  926 ), libraries  920 , and frameworks/middleware  918  to create UIs to interact with users of the system. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systems, interactions with a user may occur through a presentation layer, such as presentation layer  914 . In these systems, the application/component “logic” can be separated from the aspects of the application/component that interact with a user. 
       FIG. 10  is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine  1000 , according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically,  FIG. 10  shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine  1000  in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions  1010  (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code) for causing the machine  1000  to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. As such, the instructions  1010  may be used to implement modules or components described herein. The instructions  1010  transform the general, non-programmed machine  1000  into a particular machine  1000  programmed to carry out the described and illustrated functions in the manner described. In alternative embodiments, the machine  1000  operates as a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine  1000  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  1000  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 personal digital assistant (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  1010 , sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to be taken by machine  1000 . Further, while only a single machine  1000  is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include a collection of machines that individually or jointly execute the instructions  1010  to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. 
     The machine  1000  may include processors  1004 , memory/storage  1006 , and I/O components  1018 , which may be configured to communicate with each other such as via a bus  1002 . In an example embodiment, the processors  1004  (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 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor  1008  and a processor  1012  that may execute the instructions  1010 . The term “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors  1004  that may comprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. Although  FIG. 10  shows multiple processors  1004 , the machine  1000  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 multiple cores, or any combination thereof. 
     The memory/storage  1006  may include a memory  1014 , such as a main memory, or other memory storage, and a storage unit  1016 , both accessible to the processors  1004  such as via the bus  1002 . The storage unit  1016  and memory  1014  store the instructions  1010  embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions  1010  may also reside, completely or partially, within the memory  1014 , within the storage unit  1016 , within at least one of the processors  1004  (e.g., within the processor&#39;s cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine  1000 . Accordingly, the memory  1014 , the storage unit  1016 , and the memory of processors  1004  are examples of machine-readable media. 
     The I/O components  1018  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  1018  that are included in a particular machine  1000  will depend on the type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobile phones will likely 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  1018  may include many other components that are not shown in FIG.  10 . The I/O components  1018  are grouped according to functionality merely for simplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no way limiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components  1018  may include output components  1026  and input components  1028 . The output components  1026  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  1028  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 other 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  1018  may include biometric components  1039 , motion components  1034 , environmental components  1036 , or position components  1038 , among a wide array of other components. For example, the biometric components  1039  may 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  1034  may include acceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensor components, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth. The environmental components  1036  may include, for example, illumination sensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components (e.g., one or more thermometer 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  1038  may 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  1018  may include communication components  1040  operable to couple the machine  1000  to a network  1037  or devices  1029  via coupling  1024  and coupling  1022 , respectively. For example, the communication components  1040  may include a network interface component or other suitable device to interface with the network  1037 . In further examples, communication components  1040  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  1029  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  1040  may detect identifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. For example, the communication components  1040  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  1040 , such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geo-location, location via Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFC beacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth. 
     Glossary 
     “CARRIER SIGNAL” in this context refers to any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying transitory or non-transitory instructions for execution by the machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such instructions. Instructions may be transmitted or received over the network using a transitory or non-transitory transmission medium via a network interface device and using any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols. 
     “CLIENT DEVICE” in this context 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, PDAs, smart phones, tablets, ultra books, 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. 
     “COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK” in this context 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 type 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 (1×RTT), 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. 
     “EPHEMERAL MESSAGE” in this context 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. 
     “MACHINE-READABLE MEDIUM” in this context refers to a component, device, or other tangible media able to store instructions and data temporarily or permanently and may include, but is not limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, other types of storage (e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and/or any suitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers) able to store instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, that is capable of storing instructions (e.g., code) for execution by a machine, such that the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the machine, cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storage systems or storage networks that include multiple storage apparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium” excludes signals per se. 
     “COMPONENT” in this context 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 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 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. 
     “PROCESSOR” in this context 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 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. 
     “TIMESTAMP” in this context refers to a sequence of characters or encoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, for example giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a small fraction of a second. 
     Changes and modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. These and other changes or modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure, as expressed in the following claims. 
     Modules, Components, and Logic 
     Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules can constitute either software modules (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium or in a transmission signal) or hardware modules. A “hardware module” is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and can 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 modules of a computer system (e.g., a processor or group of processors) is configured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) as a hardware module that operates to perform certain operations as described herein. 
     In some embodiments, a hardware module is implemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, a hardware module can include dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certain operations. For example, a hardware module can be a special-purpose processor, such as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). A hardware module may also include programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardware module can include software encompassed within a general-purpose processor or other programmable processor. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware module mechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) can be driven by cost and time considerations. 
     Accordingly, the phrase “hardware module” 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. As used herein, “hardware-implemented module” refers to a hardware module. Considering embodiments in which hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example, where a hardware module 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 modules) at different times. Software can accordingly configure a particular processor or processors, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module at one instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at a different instance of time. 
     Hardware modules can provide information to, and receive information from, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardware modules can be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multiple hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications can be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) between or among two or more of the hardware modules. In embodiments in which multiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at different times, communications between or among such hardware modules may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. For example, one hardware module performs an operation and stores the output of that operation in a memory device to which it is communicatively coupled. A further hardware module can then, at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the stored output. Hardware modules can 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 can 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 constitute processor-implemented modules that operate to perform one or more operations or functions described herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented module” refers to a hardware module implemented using one or more processors. 
     Similarly, the methods described herein can 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 can be performed by one or more processors or processor-implemented modules. 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 modules are 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 modules are distributed across a number of geographic locations.