AR Alliance grows as Meta launches prescription eyewear

The AR Alliance, established by optics.org owner SPIE to aid the development of augmented reality technologies, has announced 12 new members of the consortium.

The new names include some major technology companies, including the laser, LED, and sensor maker ams-Osram, chip firm Infineon, Japan’s Ushio and Kyocera, and the data storage giant Seagate.

They will be joined by MEMS chip firm Ainstec, the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology (ISIT), Hong Kong battery producer Highpower International Co., nanoimprint lithography specialist Morphotonics, optical design company Moveon Technologies, Murata Manufacturing Co., and the Chinese optical component maker Sunny Optical Technology.

SPIE says that the AR Alliance provides a supportive and neutral environment for organizations of all sizes to take an active role in advancing and strengthening the augmented reality hardware development ecosystem.

Alliance chairman Bharath Rajagopalan, who is also the director of strategic marketing at founder member STMicroelectronics, added: “We are building AR together. The AR Alliance is the place where concrete work takes place to harmonize approaches for advancing, unifying, and growing the global AR supply chain as well as accelerating innovation.

“We are pleased to welcome this exciting collection of players to the AR Alliance and to join us in this important work and bring their deep technology and product leadership to help enable the AR market.”

Prescription progress

Meanwhile Meta and EssilorLuxottica - two other founder members of the group - have launched a new range of Ray-Ban-branded “AI” glasses that include the first such styles aimed at wearers of prescription lenses.

The new Ray-Ban Meta collection will include two optical-first styles called Ray-Ban Meta Blayzer Optics (Gen 2) and Scriber Optics (Gen 2), and are said to feature new and more comfortable and customizable frames with a slimmer design.

A new dedicated action button can activate Meta AI with a single press, allowing users to access personalized shortcuts and capture imagery and video content.

“Both Blayzer Optics and Scriber Optics support a wide range of lens designs, making them accessible to far more prescription wearers,” announced the collaboration. “The Ray-Ban Meta portfolio can be paired with advanced single-vision lenses, progressive lenses or “Transitions” lenses, allowing wearers to move seamlessly from day to night without changing frames.”

Transitions lenses automatically adapt to changing light conditions, shifting from a light tint indoors to a darker sun lens outdoors, and can be combined with Oakley’s “Prizm” lens technology to enhance color and contrast.

EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri commented: “We achieved the unimaginable with Meta, building an AI glasses category from the ground up, cultivating demand and desire, and giving consumers a gateway to the future that fits seamlessly and beautifully on their faces.

“Yet still, the real journey is in front of us. By pioneering AI glasses specially engineered for prescription wearers, adding Meta’s AI enhancements and expanding distribution, we are taking a significant leap forward, bringing the industry and millions of new consumers with us.”