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Google announced a partnership with Warby Parker for smart glasses, challenging Meta’s Ray-Ban line.
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The collaboration includes an investment of up to $150 million, with up to $75 million toward development.
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Google’s Android XR platform includes see-through headsets and glasses that support AR and AI.
Google is taking aim at Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses with a version of its own AI eyewear line, styled by Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.
“We want you to be able to wear glasses that match your personal taste,” Google’s Android XR lead Shahram Izadi said at Google I/O.
The glasses are part of Google’s Android XR platform and are a partnership with Samsung, the company announced at its Google I/O developer conference on Tuesday. The platform includes see-through headsets, as well as glasses that support augmented reality and AI.
Google and Warby Parker plan to launch a series of products, with the first line of smart glasses with multimodal AI set to launch after 2025, an announcement from the lifestyle vision brand said. Android XR will also include Project Moohan, the first Android XR headset device, which will come out later this year.
Google has committed up to $150 million to the partnership, with as much as $75 million going toward product development and commercialization costs, and up to $75 million in equity, the announcement said. Warby Parker’s stock is up nearly 15% following the news about the collaboration.
At the event, Izadi said the glasses prototypes “are already being used by trusted testers.” The Google VP didn’t share further details on availability or pricing. While Gentle Monster defines itself as a luxury eyewear brand, Warby Parker is better known for offering stylish but affordable options.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg projected in January that 2025 could be a “defining year” for the brand’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, even if it’s not a breakthrough.
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, which don’t yet include AR capabilities, have become one of the company’s few mainstream hardware hits. They allow users to take photos, livestream, and access Meta AI via voice.
During the company’s latest earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said sales of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses had “tripled” over the past year. Meta’s Ray Bans cost between $300 and $500.
Later this year, Meta is expected to release a new version of the Ray-Bans with a built-in display, its first step toward augmented reality in a mass-market product. According to Bloomberg, the upcoming model could cost between $1,000 and $1,400.
Meanwhile, Meta is developing a separate, more ambitious line of AR glasses, internally codenamed “Artemis,” which it aims to release by 2027. These are distinct from both the Ray-Bans and “Orion,” an early prototype Meta unveiled last year as a preview of its AR ambitions.
Google is taking aim at Orion with its own “Project Aura” glasses, part of its broader Android XR platform. Google’s Aura glasses include a built-in camera, microphone, speakers, and in-lens display, and they are already being tested.
Google has been exploring the concept of smart glasses for over a decade, and it’s had some flops along the way — like Google Glass, which was discontinued in 2023, after launching in 2013. Last year at I/O, Google teased Project Astra, a vision of what Google Assistant could be like if it could hear and see around you. Google CEO Sundar Pichai hinted that Google was “working on prototypes” for the AI assistant that could be glasses.
Google did a live demo of the Project Aura glasses on Tuesday at I/O, showing how users could message friends, make appointments, ask for directions, and take photos. It also demoed a live language translation, which appeared a bit glitchy in the onstage demonstration, but still offered an impressive first look at what the tech could offer.
Google I/O also included a series of other product rollouts and AI updates, including a conversation version of Search called AI Mode, as well as gen-AI media models like Veo 3, and Imagen 4.
Read the original article on Business Insider
