Facebook unveils $299 ‘smart glasses’ that can take photos, calls

Facebook has unveiled its first “smart glasses” as a part of its attempt toward offering augmented-reality spectacles.

At the launch on Thursday, Facebook said the glasses line, called Ray-Ban Stories, would sell at a value starting from $299.

It said the glasses, created in partnership with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica (ESLX.PA), will allow wearers to listen to music, take calls or photos, make short videos, and share them across Facebook’s services using a companion app.

The social media giant, which reported revenue of about $86 billion in 2020, has been investing heavily in virtual and augmented reality.

It had developed hardware such as its Oculus VR headsets and worked on wristband technologies to support augmented reality glasses.

Speaking of the new product in a video posted via his page in Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, said: “We’ve believed for a long time that glasses are going to be an important part of building the next computing platform.”

Earlier, Facebook said it was testing a virtual reality (VR) remote work app where users of its Oculus Quest 2 headsets can hold meetings as avatar versions of themselves.