Facebook’s first consumer smart glasses will be releasing next year and the smart glasses will be a branded Ray-Ban product. The features of the device have not been made clear. But one thing has been reported that the device will not have any integrated display of any kind.
The social media giant has been researching in creating a full-fledged pair of AR glasses. These new consumer smart glasses are one step further in Facebook’s Augmented Reality project called Project Aria.
Facebook has said that starting next month the company will start the testing aria in the real world. The testers will be Facebook employees and contractors. The company however has to address various issues like privacy, video recording, and design.
Zuckerberg’s company has revealed that Project Aria glasses will be worn by its employees around the company’s campus. The glasses however do not have Augmented Reality features and they are not for sales as of now. The devices are capable of capturing video, audio, eye tracking, and also location data. Facebook can use all this information to aid in the development of its first consumer smart glasses.
Facebook and Luxottica have entered into a multi-year partnership for the production of Facebook’s Augmented Reality smart glasses.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “After spending time with their team and visiting their factory, I knew that they were the right partner for us to help bring the best technology together with the best glasses,”.
Facebook has been planning for years to build an AR device that resembles a standard pair of glasses. The company partnered with the Italian eyewear brand to design frames of its first consumer smart glasses.
“I can’t go into full product details yet, but they’re really the next step on the road to augmented reality glasses,” Zuckerberg said. “And they look pretty good too.”
No details have been released regarding the price of the AR glasses. The company has not even released the official name for the device, nor its looks have been released.
Facebook is not the only company to design AR devices that look like a standard piece of eyewear. Many tech giants including Amazon, Apple, Google, Intel, and others have been actively working on devices in the AR category and some have even released smart glasses.
Facebook has always been transparent in its work on Augmented Reality work. Whether the company’s new consumer smart glasses will become a full-fledged AR device is yet to be known. Considering the research that the company is putting behind its Project Aria. Hopes are high.
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