Mark Zuckerberg teases new smart glasses project and wearable technology

Last September, Meta joined forces with EssilorLuxottica to launch its first smart glasses

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg holds a pair of the touch controllers for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets. Reuters

Facebook parent company Meta’s chief executive and founder Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday teased a new smart glasses project with Franco-Italian company EssilorLuxottica on the social media platform.

Mr Zuckerberg posted a photo of the eyewear company’s chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio sporting a prototype of a neural interface wristband that can be used to control other smart devices.

“Great to be back in Milan to discuss plans for new smart glasses with Leonardo Del Vecchio and the EssilorLuxottica team,” he wrote on Facebook.

“Here Leonardo is using a prototype of our neural interface EMG wristband that will eventually let you control your glasses and other devices.

Mr Zuckerberg ended his post with a smiley-face emoji wearing sunglasses.

Meta is working on an EMG — electromyography — wristband technology. It uses sensors to translate electrical motor nerve signals that travel through the wrist to the hand into digital commands with which users can control the functions of a device.

“These signals let you communicate crisp, one-bit commands to your device, a degree of control that’s highly personalisable and adaptable to many situations,” Meta said in a previous post.

EMG is a technique that evaluates how muscles and the nerves work.

The smart glasses industry is booming. Revenue from sales of the smart glasses is expected to reach $4.5 billion by 2025 and $30.1bn by 2030, according to ImmersivEdge Advisers.

It predicts that smart glasses will replace smartphones as everyday electronic assistants for millions of people by 2030.

Competition is also rife in this area with major tech titans including Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Snapchat venturing into producing smart glasses.

Even Apple and Samsung are rumoured to be working on their own versions.

Last September, Meta joined forces with EssilorLuxottica, best known for its Ray-Ban brand, to launch its first smart glasses in the market.

Called Ray-Ban Stories, the new smart glasses let users capture photos, record videos, listen to music and podcasts, and take phone calls without taking out their smartphone.

Last month, Meta reported a 21 per cent year-on-year drop in first-quarter net profit, underpinned by a decrease in the average price fadvertisement.

The California-based company earned a net profit of more than $7.4bn in the quarter that ended on March 31, about $2bn less than the prior year period.

It was 27.4 per cent or $2.8bn less compared to the quarter that ended on December 31.