Google today announced that it will work with eyewear makers Warby Parker and Gentle Monster to bring its first Android XR Smartglasses to the market. The move reflects Meta’s early partnership with Esilol Luxottica, the dominant eyewear maker behind Meta’s Ray-Ban Smart Glasses.
While no commercialized Android XR SmartGlasses has been announced, Google said today it is collaborating with eyewear makers Warby Parker and Gentle Monster on a first-generation product. Android XR SmartGlasses is remarkable with Google’s Gemini AI and includes an onboard display for visual output.
Warby Parker is a well-known American eyewear brand founded in 2010 and has pioneered the consumer eyewear business at a low cost. Founded in 2011, Gentle Monster is a well-known Korean eyewear brand and has a similar approach to Warby Parker.
Although influential, both eyewear makers are pale white compared to Esilol Luxottica, and are huge eyewear and lens conglomerates behind brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley.
Essilorluxottica and Meta partnered up on Smartglasses’ ambitions a few years ago. Things seem to be on track for the partnership as the duo have launched several iterations of Metaray-Ban smart glasses featuring classic Ray-Ban designs.
Google is currently taking the same tact by partnering with two well-known eyeglass manufacturers to ensure the strong brand and fashion reliability behind the upcoming Android XR Smartglasses.
Google Glass, the company’s first pair of smart glasses, has returned in 2012. They were impressively compact at the time (especially considering the inclusion of displays), but the asymmetric design of bulky display optics was considered socially off-padded.
That led Google (and others) to return to the drawings for years. We waited until technology could go enough to make smart glasses that looked more socially acceptable.
It is unknown when the first Android XR SmartGlasses will be released, or what could cost, but Google said today that developers could start developing Android XR SmartGlasses later this year.
