Ray-Ban 'smart glasses' will be Facebook's next hardware product, says Zuckerberg

Date:
Fri, 30 Jul 2021 06:36:06 +0000

Description:
The future of AR smart glasses, according to several companies including Facebook. Here's what The Zuck has planned for your eyes.

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While Facebooks VR efforts under the Oculus brand are well-known, that isnt the only head-worn tech in the companys pipeline. The social media giant is also investing heavily in AR and smart glasses. In this weeks quarterly earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that its first smart glasses will be Facebooks next hardware release.

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

Zuckerberg didnt specify what those 'neat things' are. But this first pair wont be the full augmented-reality (AR) glasses that Facebook is also developing . The firm has previously said these first glasses wont have a built-in display, with functionality closer to Snapchat Spectacles than Microsoft HoloLens or the discontinued Magic Leap One .

In January, Facebook Hardware Chief Andrew Bosworth clarified that the
company wasnt even calling them an AR product, instead preferring the term smart glasses. Zuckerberg said his company views these first glasses as a consumer stepping stone towards its Project Aria glasses that can overlay 3D digital objects into the world around you.

Facebook didnt provide an update on the products specific release window.

In late 2020, former VR chief Hugo Barra had said that these first smart glasses would arrive in 2021. In January, Facebook reaffirmed that the
product was still on track for this year. (Image credit: Future) Analysis: VR and AR still looming large

Virtual and augmented reality products have been slow to catch on with consumers en masse, but Silicon Valley is still bullish on the techs potential.

Facebook has previously said that it ultimately envisions a pair of magic glasses as the holy grail of its AR research efforts. These future specs
would appear like regular eyeglasses but create the illusion of digital objects and characters overlaid inside the real world.

Apple is reportedly developing a product that fits that billing , along with
a bulkier mixed-reality headset that could launch first. Microsoft also continues to advance its HoloLens initiative, and earlier this year, leaked concept videos showed Samsungs AR plans .

Facebook bought Oculus in 2014 for $2.3 billion (1.6b, AUD$3.12b). Although the startups founders have long since left the company, Facebook hasnt let
its foot off the gas, continuing to push the tech forward.

This week, Zuckerberg said he sees the virtual metaverse a term for a
virtual social world viewed through VR and AR products as the future of Facebook. In the coming years, I expect people will transition from seeing us primarily as a social media company to seeing us as a metaverse company, he told Bloomberg . In many ways the metaverse is the ultimate expression of social technology.

In March, Facebook said its latest model, the Oculus Quest 2 , had already outsold every Oculus headset combined. Press continue: 3 things weve learned about Facebooks AR glasses



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/facebook-ray-ban-smart-glasses-next/


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