Facebook, Ray-Ban Team Up on Smart Glasses

Facebook will release its first pair of smart glasses next year, and they'll act as a stepping stone to full augmented reality devices, which can overlay virtual objects into your field of vision, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at Wednesday's virtual Facebook Connect event.

To build the smart glasses, Facebook is partnering with EssilorLuxottica SA, the French-Italian eyewear company behind Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses. Zuckerberg says Facebook's smart glasses will come in different models and configurations.

Zuckerberg did not get into specific features. But with full AR, you’ll be able to see digital notifications and mapping directions in front of you, removing the need to constantly pull up your smartphone. An onboard AI will also adapt to your surroundings to display information it believes you'd find interesting.

However, Facebook acknowledges it’ll take some time before the tech industry achieves anything close to true AR, so don’t get your hopes up for some game-changing hardware in the immediate future. The cautionary tale is Google Glass, which arrived in 2013 to much hype only to disappoint with its obscenely high price, short battery life, and minimal use cases.

:story: PC Magazine