Meta announces new smart glasses with Oakley

A video shared by Meta and Mark Zuckerberg on Instagram shows the Meta logo alternating with that of the sporting goods manufacturer Oakley. At the end, the two logos stand side by side. “The next evolution is coming on June 20” is written underneath. In the original, the video was played from a newly created account: Oakley | Meta.

What exactly is behind the announcement, however, is unknown. Meta has not shared any further information. However, there were initial reports about the collaboration back in January. It was said that Oakley and Meta would develop a pair of sports glasses with a central camera and aimed primarily at athletes. First-person videos of activities such as skiing, skating, or cycling do indeed look particularly spectacular and could otherwise only be filmed with headbands or helmet cameras.

Oakley glasses with display possible

However, the range of functions of the glasses remains unclear. Meta's Ray-Ban glasses can take photos and videos thanks to a camera, loudspeaker, and microphone and can be controlled by voice. Meta AI, Meta's AI assistant, can also be accessed via the glasses. However, they do not have a display and are not augmented reality glasses. Meta presented such glasses under the name Orion at the last Connect – albeit as a prototype.

The Oakley glasses could already come with a display. However, it is also possible that they will have other features that athletes can use and that the Ray-Bans will be expanded. Both brands belong to the EssilorLuxottica Group, the world's largest eyewear company based near Paris.

Google has also announced such glasses, which run on Android XR and use the Gemini AI model. Google will be able to optionally integrate the display into the glasses. Snap has announced new specs for the coming year, but you won't get to see real standalone AR glasses – yet. Metas and Google glasses have to be paired with a smartphone.

(emw)