Luxottica
Latest
Facebook's first smart glasses are the Ray-Ban Stories
Facebook is making its first foray into the world of smart glasses.
Facebook may be creating AR glasses with Ray-Ban's owner (updated)
Apple might not be the only big tech company working on an augmented reality headset. CNBC sources maintain that Facebook is partnering with Luxottica (owner of Ray-Ban, Oakley and other brands) on AR glasses nicknamed Orion. The eyewear would be a full-fledged phone replacement, according to the contacts. You could take calls, see information and livestream what you're seeing. In that sense, it would be closer to Google Glass (which also involved Luxottica) than phone-dependent devices like Snap's Spectacles.
Luxottica CEO says company is working on Google Glass 2.0
When Nest CEO Tony Fadell took over Google Glass back in February, he pledged to redesign the headset "from scratch." Well, it looks like that process is well underway. In a company meeting today, Luxottica CEO Massimo Vian said the Italian eyewear company is working with the folks in Mountain View on not one, but two new versions of the device. Luxottica owns brands Ray-Ban and Oakley, and if you'll recall, the company worked with Google on frames for the original version of Glass.
Intel teams with Luxottica to make smart eyewear fashionable
In case it wasn't already clear that Intel believes wearable tech should be stylish, the company has just forged a multi-year partnership with the glasses gurus (and Google Glass partners) at the Luxottica Group. The two will collaborate on smart eyewear that you'd actually like to put on your face; it's not happy with the current, overly utilitarian (read: ugly) approach to heads-up displays. They aren't talking specifics, but the aim is to make "premium, luxury and sports" glasses with a dash of intelligence. You won't have to wait long to see the first fruits of this relationship, at least, since the duo expects a product in 2015. Between this and talk of Intel-powered Glass, it's clear that the chip maker wants a prominent spot on your cranium -- it's determined to take wearables seriously and avoid missing the boat, like it did with smartphones. [Image credit: AP Photo/Gurinder Osan]
Ray-Ban and Oakley are working with Google Glass
Google only recently announced versions of its Glass headset attached to conventional specs and sunglasses (shown above), but a new partnership with Luxottica -- the company behind brands including Oakley and Ray-Ban -- will give it a significant boost. Described as a strategic partnership to "design, develop and distribute" Glass eyewear, it promises headsets "that straddle the line between high-fashion, lifestyle and innovative technology." Oakley has shown off its own heads-up display equipped goggles already, and one wonders if the two projects will merge or continue separate development. Andrea Guerra, CEO of Luxottica Group, says his company is proud to "set the pace in the eyewear industry once again," but offers few details on how or when that will happen, with more info to be released later. The Google Glass G+ post is a bit more revealing, highlighting Luxottica's more than 5,000 retail locations and distribution channels that will come in handy later. Of course, those big name brands will also help Glass expand beyond the 40 or so variations offered currently in its Titanium Collection (seen in the gallery below) and make the product something people don't want to snatch off of your face. Google's "Captain of Moonshots," Astro Teller, sees the deal as a way to push "smart eyewear" forward -- although wearers may want to wait for the law to catch up.
Oakley announces plans for line of 3D eyewear
We've already seen a few attempts at some premium 3D glasses, and it looks like you can now also count Oakley as being aboard the bandwagon. The company has just announced that it's developed what it describes as the first 3D eyewear with "optically correct" lenses, and that it will be rolling out its first 3D glasses sometime before this holiday season. Those glasses will be of the passive polarized variety, and use Oakley's so-called HDO-3D technology, which promises "unparalleled visual clarity," along with a wider peripheral viewing angle and a truer alignment of 3D images. No word on pricing just yet, but Oakley will apparently be rolling out a range of different designs that will be sold though premium optical distribution channels in the US -- a worldwide launch will follow in 2011. Full press release is after the break. [Thanks, Colin]
