Sept. 18, 2020 — EssilorLuxottica and Facebook, Inc., recently announced a multiyear collaboration to develop the next generation of smart glasses. The announcement was made by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during Facebook Connect, the company's annual conference, rebranded and held virtually this year on Sept. 16.

“We’re passionate about exploring devices that can give people better ways to connect with those closest to them," says Andrew Bosworth, vice president of Facebook Reality Labs. "Wearables have the potential to do that. With EssilorLuxottica we have an equally ambitious partner who’ll lend their expertise and world-class brand catalogue to the first truly fashionable smart glasses."

The partnership will combine Facebook apps and technologies, Luxottica’s brands, and Essilor’s lens technology. The collaboration's first smart glasses will be Ray-Ban-branded, and are scheduled to launch in 2021.

“We are especially proud of our collaboration with Facebook, which projects an iconic brand like Ray-Ban into an increasingly digital and social future," says Rocco Basilico, chief wearables officer at Luxottica. "Combining a brand that is loved and worn by millions of consumers around the globe with technology that has brought the world closer together, we can reset expectations around wearables. We are paving the way for a new generation of products destined to change the way we look at the world."

Product name, specs, software capabilities, pricing, and other details will be shared closer to launch in 2021, shares EssilorLuxottica.