Spatial quick-access messaging system for wearable devices

A method for presenting a user interface of a messaging application in augmented reality (“AR”) by a wearable AR device, the method comprising:

• capturing, via at least one camera, image data;
• processing the image data to detect and identify a body part of a person wearing the AR device, the body part comprising at least one of:
• an arm, a forearm, a leg, a torso, or a wrist;
• selecting, based on the identified body part, a set of social connections from a plurality of social connections, wherein the identified body part is an arm and the set of social connections is selected based on a configuration setting indicating that social connections are to be presented on the arm;
• dynamically tracking the detected body part while displaying in AR space, via a display of the AR device, a user interface anchored to the detected body part, the user interface comprising a plurality of user interface elements corresponding to the set of social connections, and displayed in an order based on a relationship attribute;
• detecting a selection of a first user interface element associated with a first social connection in the set of social connections;
• in response to detecting the selection, activating a microphone to record an audio message;
• communicating, via a network interface, the audio message to a messaging service for delivery to a device of the social connection.

A device for presenting a user interface of a messaging application in augmented reality (“AR”), the device comprising:

• means for capturing image data;
• means for processing the image data to detect and identify a body part of a person wearing the device, the body part comprising at least one of:
• an arm, a forearm, a leg, a torso, or a wrist;
• selecting, based on the identified body part, a set of social connections from a plurality of social connections, wherein the identified body part is an arm and the set of social connections is selected based on a configuration setting indicating that social connections are to be presented on the arm;
• means for dynamically tracking the detected body part while displaying in AR space a user interface anchored to the detected body part, the user interface comprising a plurality of user interface elements corresponding to the set of social connections and displayed in an order based on a relationship attribute;
• means for detecting a selection of a first user interface element;
• means for activating a microphone to record an audio message in response to detecting the selection;
• means for communicating the audio message to a messaging service for delivery to a device of a social connection associated with the first user interface element.