Meta and Ray-Ban owner Essilor Luxottica have prolonged their partnership within the smart glasses space until 2030.
Reuters reported on the 18th (local time) that Meta has prolonged its partnership with Essilor Luxottica and Ray-Ban smart glasses until 2030.
Essilor Luxottica has been working with Meta since 2019 to launch Ray-Ban smart glasses that could make phone calls, stream music, take photos, and more. While the primary smart glasses struggled to achieve traction with consumers once they were first released, the newest version, released in late 2023, has sold more in a matter of months than its predecessor did in two years.
Meta and Essilor Luxottica have reportedly had differences of opinion recently over the extension of their contract. There have also been reports that Google has approached Essilor Luxottica to develop Gemini-based smart glasses.
Nonetheless, as Meta showed a proactive stance, corresponding to expressing its intention to accumulate a portion of Essilor Luxottica’s shares, it was ultimately decided to proceed to keep up Meta as a partner.
Ray-Ban smart glasses allow consumers to make phone calls, take heed to music, and take photos by pressing a button on the highest of the correct temple of the glasses. In May, the corporate added multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that allow them to see and understand the world in real time, processing photos, videos, text, and audio, for patrons in the USA and Canada. Prices start at $300.
“While it’s still early days, the incredible work we’ve completed with Meta marks a crucial milestone in making eyewear a critical gateway to a connected world,” said Millary CEO.
Nonetheless, Essilor Luxottica continues to be negative about smart glasses that can’t solve the thickness problem because of the display for aesthetic reasons. Subsequently, Meta is planning to release glasses with out a display in the intervening time. Subsequently, attention is being paid as to if smart glasses with a display might be released in the longer term.
“We’re happy with our work with Essilor Luxottica to this point and enthusiastic about their long-term roadmap for the longer term,” said Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta. “We’ve the chance to remodel eyewear into the following major technology platform and, in the method, make it trendy.”
Meanwhile, CEO Millary also said in July that Meta could acquire a 5% stake in the corporate, but that’s unclear, and the expanded partnership release didn’t mention a buyout.
Reporter Park Chan cpark@aitimes.com
