Warby Parker is partnering with Google on new AI glasses
Warby Parker (WRBY) said in an SEC filing on Monday that it is partnering with Google (GOOG) on the launch of a new pair of AI glasses that are expected to hit the market in 2026.
Google announced a year ago the launch of Android XR (extended reality) created in collaboration with Samsung and Qualcomm that will bring artificial intelligence to headsets and glasses. The wearables will be powered by Gemini, Google's AI assistant.
The first wearable to be launched was the Samsung XR mixed reality headset (originally called Project Moohan), which debuted in October. The device, priced at $1,800, is seen as an answer to Apple's (AAPL) Vision Pro headset, which sells for $3,500.
The Android XR essentially takes all the apps that live on a user's smartphone and makes them available through the wearables. But it remains to be seen whether there are enough consumers who are ready to make the leap from smartphones and laptops to headsets and smart glasses.
Sales for Apple's Vision Pro have thus far been disappointing, and the device has also struggled to attract developers.
Nonetheless, Silicon Valley appears ready to go all-in on wearables, seemingly convinced that it's only a matter of time before consumers upgrade from smartphones in the same way they upgraded to smartphones from the early model cell phones.
It was reported last week that Mark Zuckerberg could make budget cuts as high as 30% to his failing metaverse group and instead redirect resources to the company's augmented reality (AR) and AI devices, including Meta's Ray-Ban smart display glasses.
An AI-powered third act for Warby Parker
During the company's third-quarter earnings call last month, Warby Parker co-founder and co-CEO Neil Blumenthal said that the company was entering what he sees as an AI-focused "third act" for the glasses manufacturer. He noted that the first act was "to establish one of the first made on the internet lifestyle brands," while the second act was to expand the business to brick-and-mortar stores.
"And now we're entering our third act defined by innovation through AI," Blumenthal said. "We plan to leverage AI to develop new products like AI glasses, to enhance our customer and patient experience like our homegrown first true-to-scale virtual try-on that now encompasses features like Glasses Eraser and Advisor, and to drive productivity and accelerate EBITDA expansion."
Blumenthal noted in the call that the Android XR AI glasses will be done through a collaboration with both Google and Samsung.
"We believe that Samsung's innovation in hardware and their mobile device ecosystem, combined with Google's leadership in AI and Warby Parker's strength in design, eye care and customer experience, unlock enormous potential to create beautifully designed, intelligent eyewear that seamlessly integrates into everyday life," he said.
Warby Parker's stock surged 13.4% on Monday.
Google said in a blog post on Monday that it has been working on its smart glasses for over a decade. In addition to Warby Parker, the tech giant is also partnering with Gentle Monster on the AI glasses, as Google said it was looking for "innovative eyewear brands" that could "create stylish glasses with Android XR" that people would actually want to wear.
Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, told Wired earlier this year that Google could prove to be a formidable competitor to Meta in the AI glasses market.
“They're probably the closest of the big, tier one competitors that can ship something to compete with Meta,” Sag said. “Meta doesn't have a display yet. So they might even beat Meta to shipping one with a display.”