Meta is accelerating the development of augmented reality (AR) devices.
According to the Financial Times on the 26th, Meta plans to partner with EssilorLuxottica, the manufacturer of Ray-Ban, to equip Ray-Ban Meta glasses with display capabilities.
The outlet reported that the developing Ray-Ban smart glasses will display simple text and images, allowing users to receive service notifications and responses from Meta's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant.
Francesco Milleri, CEO of EssilorLuxottica, noted that "the second-generation Ray-Ban Meta glasses, released in September 2023, became popular among consumers," adding, "In just a few months, the sales of the second-generation product exceeded the cumulative sales of the first-generation product."
Meta is attempting to expand its business in the wearable device market, including the unveiling of the AR glasses Orion in September. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, envisions smart glasses as the next mainstream platform to compete with Apple and Google.
However, the Financial Times pointed out that "it will take several years to convert this product into a consumer product," noting that "the high expense of optical silicon carbide lenses and the lack of experience in mass production could burden the manufacturing process."
Andrew Bosworth, CTO of Meta, stated that "next year will be the most significant year in the history of Reality Labs, which is responsible for developing the Meta Quest headset and AR glasses."