Patent ID: 8184983

Claim:
A method for exchanging information, the method comprising: intermittently emitting, via a transmitter coupled to a first wearable electronic device, directed electromagnetic radiation comprising a beacon signal, wherein the beacon signal comprises an indicator of at least one communication mode of the first wearable electronic device; receiving a beacon response from at least one additional wearable electronic device, wherein the beacon response comprises an indicator of at least one communication mode of the at least one additional wearable electronic device; selecting a second wearable electronic device with which to communicate by aiming the directed electromagnetic radiation at the second wearable electronic device so as to include the second wearable electronic device within a limited beam width of the directed electromagnetic radiation; receiving, via a receiver coupled to the first wearable electronic device, a signal from the second wearable electronic device identifying one of the second wearable electronic device and an account at a remote computing device associated with a user of the second wearable device; detecting, via an input interface coupled to the first wearable electronic device, a predefined input associated with an instruction to transmit additional data to one of the identified second wearable electronic device and the account at the remote computing device associated with the user; and responsive to receiving the signal and detecting the predefined input, transmitting the additional data from the first wearable electronic device to one of the second wearable electronic device and the account at the remote computing device associated with the user, wherein transmitting the additional data from the first wearable electronic device to the second wearable electronic device comprises selecting a communication mode from at least one communication mode of the first wearable electronic device and at least one communication mode of the second wearable electronic device.