ray-ban meta sales just tripled YOY
how smart glasses became the next big platform
Smart glasses just had their breakout moment.
Ray-Ban Meta, the smart glasses collaboration between Meta and EssilorLuxottica, tripled in sales this year according to recent earnings reports.
During Meta's Q1 2025 earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg also said the smart glasses have four times as many monthly active users as Q1 2024.
This isn’t just a product win. It’s a platform unlock.
And it marks a shift that has been building for over a decade.
For years, smart glasses were stuck in limbo - too awkward, too early, too easy to ignore.
But now? They’re stylish. Useful. Mainstream.
The future of wearables isn’t on your wrist.
It’s on your face.
from wristwear to facewear
We got used to wearables living on the wrist — tracking, tapping, glancing and nudging us through the day.
But the next phase is already here. And it lives higher up.
Smart glasses are:
Hands-free and always aware
Socially visible
Capable of combining vision, audio, camera and AI in one seamless form
If the wrist taught us to track, the face will teach us to see in new ways
“We are leading the transformation of glasses as the next computing platform, one where AI, sensory tech and a data-rich healthcare infrastructure will converge to empower humans and unlock our full potential,” EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri and deputy CEO Paul du Saillant said in a joint-statement.
“The success of Ray-Ban Meta, the launch of Oakley Meta Performance AI glasses and the positive response to Nuance Audio are major milestones for us in this new frontier.”
style before specs
Ray-Ban Meta has so far succeeded where others failed eg Google Glass and Snap Spectacles.
Why? Because it started with aesthetic intelligence, not tech ambition.
Designed to be worn, not demoed
Distributed through retail, not hype
Backed by Ray-Ban’s cultural credibility, not Silicon Valley novelty
It works because it doesn’t scream smart.
It whispers cool and IYKYK.
meta’s most powerful interface isn’t a phone
Meta didn’t just co-design the product.
It bought a 3% in EssilorLuxottica.
That’s not just a collaboration. It’s creating infrastructure.
Smart glasses are Meta’s trojan horse. A way to embed its AI, voice assistant and ambient computing into an object people already wear.
The next great OS won’t launch in an app.
It will be worn on your face.
not just eyewear, a wearable platform
EssilorLuxottica plans to scale to 10 million smart glasses a year by 2026.
That’s not a test run. It’s category building.
Up next:
Oakley Meta (recently released)
Prada Meta (rumoured to be coming soon)
Improved voice UX for search, directions, translation and ambient capture
That’s not just a new product category.
It’s a framework for how AI shows up seamlessly in the background.
the facewear field guide
six signals for how smart glasses will shape everyday life
Instant Translation
Walk through Tokyo and your glasses translate every sign around you in real time.
Invisible Navigation
Ask for directions and receive subtle prompts in your periphery without breaking stride.
Hands-Free Capture
Say “take photo” and preserve a moment without touching your phone.
Social Recall
At a party, your glasses discreetly remind you who that person was and where you met.
Context Layering
See a product and access reviews, prices or alternatives through visual search.
Voice-as-Interface
Make a call, queue a song or set a reminder - all without reaching into your pocket.
These aren’t features.
They’re everyday UX blueprints for wearable intelligence.
the EVERYWEAR view
The next OS isn’t an app.
It isn’t a headset.
It’s eyewear.
Smart glasses have passed their product-market-fit moment.
And facewear, style-first, voice-powered, always-on - is where the wearable world is heading.
Wearables aren’t just accessories anymore.
They’re becoming the interface itself.
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Smart rings, AI eyewear, ambient UX and the cultural shift from device to design.
Because the next platform isn’t something we carry.
It’s something we wear. EVERYWEAR.