After Snapchat announced that it’s planning to launch its own AR glasses to consumers next year, Meta has hinted at the next stage for its smart glasses, with the next iteration of its AI-powered wearables set to be launched later this week.
A new “Oakley/Meta” profile has been launched on Instagram, teasing a June 20th launch date for a collaborative offering from the pair.
You can also sign-up for updates on the pairing.
There’s not a heap to go on at this stage, but the video seemingly points to the coming, updated variation of Meta’s Ray Ban smart glasses, which were first reported earlier this year.
Back in January, Bloomberg reported that Meta was working on a new version of its smart glasses that would be aimed specifically at athletes, with new data tracking elements to help improve performance feedback.
Meta’s athletic sunglasses will reportedly be based on Oakley’s “Sphaera” style, and will come with a single camera, in the center of the frame, in order to reduce weight.
Oakley is owned by EssilorLuxottica, the same company that owns Ray Ban, which Meta has already partnered with on its first smart glasses. Meta also reportedly invested in the company last year, solidifying that partnership, which will give Meta direct access to the company’s most popular frames and styles when developing its glasses models.
Which is expected to result in this new offering, which could further expand the market demand for Meta’s AI glasses, by branching into fitness tracking.
Meta’s initial Ray Ban glasses have proven popular, with over 2 million units sold thus far, and production is now being ramped up to meet demand. The integration of conversational AI has helped to propel sales, by latching onto the latest tech trend, while also solidifying Meta’s production pipeline, with a view to the next stage of wearable sales.
Which will eventually also include Meta’s own AR glasses.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly noted that, in his view, digital glasses will eventually replace phones as the connective device of choice, and as such, Meta’s looking to build out its wearable production process, in order to meet both this initial stage of interest, and the next developments.
Meta’s AR glasses are expected to be launched in 2027, and by that time, Meta’s smart glasses will likely have a much more significant market presence, paving the way for the next offering to reach millions of retail stores.
And if Meta can also boost the appeal of such with a wider breadth of users, including runners and athletes, this could be another smart step to boost interest in its wearable offerings.
We’ll know more later this week, when the Meta/Oakley announcement goes live.
