“Mes amis sont ma richesse” – French proverb
EssilorLuxottica, the company behind Meta’s famed Ray-Ban smart glasses, announced on Tuesday that it would extend its partnership to over the next ten years with the tech giant.
Through the new contract, both Meta and EssilorLuxottica will continue to develop further generations of Meta’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered smart glasses.The developments follow two generations of Ray-Ban Stories, leading to major product offerings in the wearable market.
Meta’s Ray-Ban Stories are found across numerous markets in Western Europe and North America.
The news comes after the partnerships saw its second-generational product release last year, allowing users to phone, take photos and videos, listen to music, and livestream events via their smart glasses.
Comments on Partnership Extension
Francesco Milleri, Chairman and Chief Executive, EssilorLuxottica, explained how his company led to the “transformation and modernization” of eyewear products worldwide.
Speaking further, he said,
“The incredible work we’ve done with Meta, still in its early stages, has already proven to be an important milestone in our journey to making glasses the gateway to the connected world.”
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and Chief Executive, Meta added,
“I’m proud of the work we’ve done with EssilorLuxottica so far, and I’m excited about our long term roadmap ahead. We have the opportunity to turn glasses into the next major technology platform, and make it fashionable in the process.”
The War of the Wearables Wages On
The announcement comes after Zuckerberg commented at the SIGGRAPH 2024 that smart glasses would become an integrative device comparable to the smartphone, leading to greater adoption rates in a few years time.
In July, EssilorLuxottica stated that its partnership with Meta, along with the second Ray-Ban Stories instalment, has significantly boosted its sales in just a few months compared to previous versions.
Interestingly, Andrew Bosworth, CTO, Meta teased audiences back in January that his company had “pretty exciting” plans to debut a future prototype of augmented reality (AR) spectacles.
He said at the time,
“I think it might be the most advanced piece of technology on the planet in its domain. In the domain of consumer electronics, it might be the most advanced thing that we’ve ever produced as a species.”
Concluding, he noted that there was a “pretty good chance” people could access the device in 2024.
The smart glasses in question were prototyped on the Ray-Ban smart glasses platform with an additional heads-up display attached.
Competition between wearables companies has begun to increase, as statements show that smart glasses could profitably increase adoption rates for spatial communications technologies amongst consumers and enterprise users requring ergonomical, all-day use.
Firms such as Phantom Technologies, Meta, XREAL, Vuzix, Viture, Rokid, and many others have entered the smart glasses markets to compete for the top spot for consumer wearable devices. Phantom released last Thursday a pair of Journey Lens smart glasses capable of text, audio, all-day use, and AI-enabled motifs aimed at productivity and relaxation.
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