Since last week, the wearables community has been a-buzz with the Luxottica-Intel deal. Both Luxottica and Intel have already made headlines in wearable tech news this year: just last March 2014, Luxottica publicly announced a strategic partnership with Google; while, last September, Intel has entered the “cool mode” by launching a high-end wearable smart bracelet at NY Fashion Week. It is very interesting to observe the triangle that, with this news, is shaping up under our eyes. Luxottica, the Italian eyewear giant, that manufactures and distributes brands like Oakley, Rayban, Chanel and Armani among others, has positioned itself at the center of a white-hot liason a’ trois which brings together crucial wearable tech factors like design + software + hardware. All in all, it is a pretty powerful alliance under any point of view.
On the other end, there is still a lot of skepticism around smart eyewear. Google has so far failed to come up with a satisfactory UX, but if I have to choose between smart watch and smart glasses, I’d bet on the latter option. There are at least a couple of reasons, behind my choice:
1) eyewear is often a necessity, ie.: it helps to see better (shades or sight). Therefore, many users wear glasses anyway, while watches are more of a choice.
2) we are moving towards a visual communication culture. Visuals condense many meanings is shorter span of time. A photo is worth 1000, words, or 10.000 if it is a good photo. In a fast paced communication environment visual travels 1,000 times faster, if there is bandwidth that is, but that’s another story…
In front of this powerful triumvirate, how are the other tech & design giants lining up to win the wearable challenge then?
Samsung is positioning to integrate its current product line with wearable devices. Just yesterday, its virtual reality headset was launched on the US market. Priced at $200, the Samsung Gear VR connects to the Galaxy 4 and it is based on Oculus Rift technology. Oculus, as you certainly remember, has been acquired by Facebook for $2BN last summer.
Apple seems set to go on its own as it has always done so far, but while its tech side is definitely solid, will it be able to keep up with the design challenges of wearables? Its delay in launching the iWatch is foreboding, but we’ll see when it will reach the stores next year if Apple’s appeal will win this one too. The jury is still out on this one…
And to finish off, here is my gallery of futuristic eyewear: