Facebook is working with Ray-Ban maker on smart glasses, says report

The social media giant has reportedly teamed with Luxottica, which makes sunglasses for Ray-Ban and Oakley.

Corinne Reichert Senior Writer

Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.

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I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.

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Corinne Reichert

Sept. 17, 2019 2:26 p.m. PT

Facebook wants to get in your face.

Angela Lang/CNET

Facebook has partnered with Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses maker Luxottica to develop augmented reality glasses, according to a report. The companies are looking to launch a set of AR glasses, code-named Orion, for consumers sometime between 2023 and 2025, CNBC said on Tuesday.

Facebook's AR glasses have been in the works for some time. In 2017, the company's chief technology officer, Mike Schroepfer, said at Facebook's F8 conference that the specs were "an extension of the work we're doing on VR." At the same confab, Michael Abrash, chief scientist of Facebook-owned VR company Oculus, said true augmented reality, or "full AR," was at least five years away.

According to CNBC's sources, the Orion Ray-Ban AR glasses are designed to replace smartphones and could take calls, display info and livestream a user's POV to social media platforms.

Later Tuesday, The Information reported that Facebook is working on two pairs of smart glasses: a pair of Snapchat Spectacles look-alikes with the Ray-Ban maker, which are code-named Stella and could launch in the next two years, and a pair of "more advanced augmented reality glasses" code-named Orion.

Oculus declined to comment. Luxottica didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read: Best places to buy prescription glasses online in 2019

Originally published Sept. 17, 12:50 p.m. PT.
Update, 2:26 p.m.: Adds report of two glasses and that Google declined to comment.