Commodity and eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica have announced that they are extending their smart glasses partnership through 2030, which will allow the companies to develop “multi-generation smart glasses products.”
Meta and EssilorLuxottica, who have been working together since 2019, launched the first generation of Facebook Ray-Ban Stories glasses in 2021, and then released the follow-up Ray-Ban Meta Glasses in fall 2023, featuring an improved camera, audio, and more design options.
Notably, the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses do not feature a screen, instead offering input for things like taking pictures, shooting video, and listening to music by tapping on the glasses' supports and a voice assistant. Since the launch of the second-generation Ray-Ban smart glasses, Meta has also released AI-powered object recognition from Microsoft's Bing.
In addition to Ray-Ban, EssilorLuxottica also owns eyewear retailers such as Oakley, Persol, Oliver Peoples and Vogue Eyewear, as well as LensCrafters, Pearle Vision and Sunglass Hut.
“The incredible work we’ve done with Meta, while still in its early stages, has proven to be a significant milestone in our journey to make eyewear the gateway to the connected world,” EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri said in a press release, adding that the company looks forward to “continuing to chart the future of the category together.”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed excitement about the company's “long-term roadmap,” noting that Meta and the Italian-French luxury eyewear group have “the opportunity to transform eyewear into the next big tech platform and make it fashionable in the process.”
This news follows a June report that Meta’s XR division, Reality Labs, which was founded in 2020, was being reorganized to better serve the wearables category.
An alleged internal memo from Meta CTO and Reality Labs president Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth stated that the company is “doubling down on finding a strong product market for wearable Meta AI, building a business around it, and expanding the audience.” Our north star for seamlessly embedding digital content into the physical world remains the same, but the steps along the way have gotten a lot more exciting.
Later in July, Wall Street Journal Meta is reportedly considering a minority stake of around 5% in the company, worth an estimated €4.33 billion (~$4.73 billion). At the time of writing, the deal has yet to be confirmed, but it’s clear that Meta is on track to deepen its ties with EssilorLuxottica in an effort to make smart glasses, and possibly AR glasses, an undisputed fashion accessory.