Gesture-based content sharing in artifical reality environments

A system comprising:

• a near eye display (NED) comprising:
• an optical assembly having an electronic display that is configured to display images in accordance with display instructions;
• an imaging device configured to capture one or more images of a portions of a local area of the NED;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• determine a position of a hand of a first user of the NED located within the local area using the captured one or more images;
• identify a second user within the local area of the NED, the second user associated with a second NED;
• display to the first user using the NED a first virtual object corresponding to a first content item;
• transmit a first message to the second NED to cause the second NED to display to the second user a representation of the first virtual object, wherein the contents of the first content item corresponding to the first virtual object are obscured to the second user;
• identify a gesture performed by the hand of the first user based upon one or more determined positions of the hand, the gesture corresponding to a predetermined sequence of one or more hand movements or hand positions;
• and
• responsive to identifying the gesture, transmit a second message to the second NED enabling the second NED to access the first content item, and to cause the second NED to display to the second user a second representation of the first virtual object where the contents of the first content item corresponding to the first virtual object are visible to the second user.