Facebook is finally bringing ‘smart glasses’ in collaboration with Ray-Ban

Facebook will launch Ray-Ban ‘smart glasses’ at its next hardware event. The social network’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the showcasing of its AR Glasses in the latest earnings call. The smart glasses are being crafted in collaboration with Ray-Ban owner Essilor Luxottica. The glasses will feature Ray-Ban’s iconic frame and come with AR features.

“Looking ahead here, the next product release will be the launch of our first smart glasses from Ray-Ban in partnership with EssilorLuxottica,” the Facebook CEO said. “The glasses have their iconic form factor, and they let you do some pretty neat things,” he added.

While CEO has remained cryptic about the ‘neat things,’ the company had earlier cited that the glasses won’t be classified as an augmented reality device. Moreover, it won’t have an integrated display. While the functionalities aren’t revealed yet, Zuckerberg stated the launch of the Ray-Ban glasses as part of Facebook’s “journey towards full augmented reality glasses in the future.”

Facebook didn’t provide a specific launch timeline for its new smart eyewear, but Zuckerberg did mention the AR glasses to be an integral part of Facebook’s new plans to build the ‘metaverse,’ which is a multi-model technology platform wherein users will be able to ‘teleport’ into digital space and the platform will be used for work, socializing, among other options. He even emphasized that ads will be an important part of revenue moving forward.

“[A]ds are going to continue being an important part of the strategy across the social media parts of what we do and it will probably be a meaningful part of the metaverse too,” Zuckerberg mentioned in the earnings call.

Notably, Facebook has long been working on smart glasses and has produced a few prototype AR eyewear. Reports in the past suggested that the company’s Project Aria research unit has been putting efforts to bring such spectacles to fruition. While the time frame and technical specs aren’t known yet, it would still be exciting to see whether Facebook applies a whole new product or stick to the Snapchat approach.

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