Luxottica Group, the parent company of prestigious eyewear brands Ray-Ban and Oakley, has signed a deal with Google that will bring an element of style to the search giant’s wearable Glass technology. In a fashion-conscious society, Glass has been trolled by anyone and everyone for its geeky connotations, but with these two decidedly cool brands bringing out their own ranges, perhaps there is some consumer-market potential here after all.
Google Glass has, like all emerging technologies, its fair share of critics. Naysayers have argued that the device has no real use as a consumer product at this moment in time, and with the New York Police Department not the only government body currently testing out Google’s face computer, it’s hard to dispute the fact that the device may be lacking that end-user appeal.
One of the main reasons why some folks haven’t warmed to Google Glass is because, well, it’s not exactly the most flattering thing to wear, to say the least. "Ugly" is not a term we would necessarily use, but it has been thrown around in the same sentence as the device, and even though, in the current developmental stage, the style issues were always going to be overlooked in favor of bringing the technology up to a better standard, the news that Ray-Ban and Oakley will be joining the fold will surely help to de-stigmatize the wearing of Glass in public places.
The icing on the cake would have been if Luxottica could have thrown out some teaser images out there for us to drool over, but it did go on to add that design ranges would be revealed "at a later stage." The company is hoping its new collaborative effort with Google will "straddle the line between high-fashion, lifestyle and innovative technology," and while there’s still plenty of work to be done on both sides before folks will be walking everywhere in their Ray-Ban Glass, we certainly look forward to seeing whether Luxottica’s influence will help to sway the skeptics.
What do you think – does the fact that Ray-Ban and Oakley are on board make a great deal of difference to your outlook on Glass? Please, as ever, be sure to leave your thoughts via the comments below!
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