Relentless in its metaverse pursuit, Facebook’s mother company, Meta, recently acquired Luxexcel, a smart eyewear company based in the Netherlands.
In 2009, when Luxexcel was founded, it specialized in making prescription lenses with 3D printing; more recently, the company focused on smart lenses, which can be printed with integrated technology like LCDs and holographic film. It partnered with WaveOptics in 2021 to create lenses equipped with waveguides needed to lay over virtual reality objects on a user’s real-life environment.
According to Meta’s head of financial communications, Ryan Moore,” We’re excited that the Luxexcel team has joined Meta, deepening the existing partnership between the two companies.” Though the terms and details of the deal are unknown to the public, Meta’s interest in the buyout undoubtedly stems from Luxexcel’s ability to print complex optics for smart glasses and AR headsets.
Andrew Bosworth, Meta CTO and Reality Labs head, revealed in a blog post in December 2022 that the company is investing “about half” of the metaverse-focused division’s operating expenses into building virtual reality products (VR) and the other half in augmented reality (AR).
Meta’s augmented reality (AR) research initiative, Project Aria, a sensor-rich glasses which the company created to train its AR perception systems as well as asses public perception of the technology, is rumoured to house Luxexcel-built lenses.
Paying no mind to the criticisms over how much money it is spending on its Metaverse ambitions, Meta is inching closer to its goal, as it added colour video passthrough to the new Quest Pro headset, partnered with Microsoft to bring a range of Microsoft Office 365 products into Meta’s virtual reality (VR) platform.
It also teamed up with Ray-Ban in 2021 to launch the Ray-Ban Stories, smart glasses that can make voice-controlled handsfree calls and take photos and videos using Meta platforms like Facebook and Whatsapp.
Do you see Meta facing even more regulatory scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission over this acquisition as it has in the past?
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Photo by Dima Solomin
