Sept 17 (Askume) – EssilorLuxottica (ESLX.PA) said on Tuesday it has expanded its partnership with Meta Platforms (META.O) by signing a new long-term agreement to continue developing smartglasses over the next decade.
Francesco Milleri, CEO of EssilorLuxottica, said: “The incredible work we are doing with Meta is still in its early stages and marks an important milestone in our journey to make eyewear the gateway to the connected world.”
EssilorLuxottica and Meta established a partnership in 2019 and have since focused on the research and development of two generations of Ray-Ban brand smartglasses.
Despite initially struggling to attract consumers, the latest version, due to arrive in late 2023, sold as many units in just a few months as the previous version did in two years.
Ray-Ban Meta’s smart glasses allow consumers to make calls, listen to music and take photos by pressing a button on the right temple of the glasses. Multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities were also added for US and Canadian customers in May.
“I’m proud of the work we’ve done with EssilorLuxottica so far, and I’m excited about our long-term roadmap and the opportunity to make it fashionable,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.
