In an apparent effort to get tanned fools excited about products that were invented by a bunch of pale-faced nerds, Meta is teaming up with athletes. Oakley sunglasses brand to manufacture a new generation of smart glasses.
Bloomberg reported On Tuesday, the two companies had teamed up in a smart glasses partnership. The glasses will be marketed to athletes, according to the report. Citing “people with knowledge of the matter,” the news outlet lays out some of the ways Meta plans to diversify its smart glasses product base in the coming years:
…First, the company plans to introduce its current Ray-Ban glasses into new markets. Second, Meta is expanding its smart glasses technology to other fashion brands owned by its partner Luxottica Group SA. This includes a new version, called “Supernova 2”, based on Oakley’s Sphaera glasses. This model, which moves the camera to the center of the glasses frame, will be aimed at cyclists and other athletes.
What could help you ride a bike better than a pair of sunglasses that allow you to take pictures and make phone calls? While details on how these glasses would actually work are currently scarce, the idea seems somewhat ridiculous. Bloomberg notes that although Meta’s glasses do not currently provide a true AR experience, this is something the company is working overtime to achieve. A newer model is currently being developed that “will include a display at the bottom of the right lens that projects information into the user’s field of view,” Bloomberg writes. Users will be able to “run simple software applications, view notifications and view photos taken by the device,” it adds. Well, because that In fact help you ride a bike.
God knows why Zuck wants these things to happen so badly, but it’s clearly the way of the future. Meta has already had reasonable success in the smart glasses market through its partnership with Ray-Ban. Now, as it looks to expand its audience, it makes sense for the company to try to reach different segments of the public. I guess while you’re fawning over Trump, you probably think you should also be fawning over his base (i.e. police).
Bloomberg notes that Meta’s push into the smart glasses market may also be a way for the company to find useful applications for the other product line it has spent years developing: Metaverse stuff and its virtual reality software, in which has spent tons of metric money on development. . Since full-fledged glasses and headphones haven’t worked as well, the best option is to turn everyone’s sunglasses into little conduits of the metaverse.