The Future of Smart Glasses Just Got Clearer: Essilor Luxottica and Applied Materials Join Forces

Let's be honest. Most smart glasses look like something out of a sci-fi movie. They are bulky, awkward, and about as stylish as a calculator watch. But that might be about to change.

EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest eyewear maker, which you know from Ray-Ban, Oakley, and a dozen other brands you have definitely heard of, just signed a long-term deal with Applied Materials, a California-based chipmaking equipment company, to develop augmented reality display technology and next-generation AI glasses.

This is not a small deal. This is a major step toward making smart glasses that actually look like normal glasses.

Why This Partnership Matters

EssilorLuxottica already dominates the AI glasses market through its partnership with Meta. The Ray-Ban Meta glasses are the number one-selling AI glasses in the world. In 2025 alone, the company sold more than 7 million AI glasses across its Ray-Ban and Oakley brands.

But those glasses do not have a display. They have a camera, microphone, and speakers, with an AI voice assistant that answers questions and describes surroundings.

The new partnership with Applied Materials is aimed at something much more complex: augmented reality displays.

Applied Materials makes the specialised equipment used to engineer the ultra-thin material layers at the heart of semiconductor chips needed for AR displays. Their expertise in waveguides, the optical layer that projects images into the lens while still letting you see the real world, is critical to making lightweight, high-performance AR experiences possible.

Company Role

EssilorLuxottica Lenses, frames, smart eyewear design, consumer brand power

Applied Materials: Materials engineering, waveguide technology, semiconductor expertise

What They Are Actually Building

The partnership will focus on several advanced optical technologies :

Waveguides: The optical layer that projects images into the lens while maintaining visibility of the real world. This is the fundamental building block of AR glasses.

Adaptive lens systems: Lenses that can dynamically adjust tint based on lighting conditions.

Materials innovations: New materials that can make AR optics thinner, lighter, and more durable.

Lens encapsulation: Technologies that preserve the optical performance of AR display systems.

The research will take place at a dedicated collaboration lab on Applied Materials' Silicon Valley campus. Both companies will combine their intellectual property to accelerate the path from innovation to manufacturable, scalable optical solutions.

What Already Exists

You might be wondering: Is this just hype?

In September 2025, Meta launched the Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses, which feature a full-colour monocular display projected through a geometric waveguide on the right lens. The display provides a resolution of 600 × 600, resulting in a sharp image with 42 pixels per degree. The field of view is narrow at 20°, but this helps reduce power consumption.

The glasses weigh around 89 grams heavier than regular Ray-Bans, but still wearable. They come with the Meta Neural Band, a wrist-worn device that uses electromyography (EMG) to detect subtle finger movements. This allows you to control the glasses without voice or touch, making it perfect for quiet environments.

The first device with a built-in display launched in 2025, and the new EssilorLuxottica/Applied Materials partnership aims to take this technology to the next level.

EssilorLuxottica CFO Stefano Grassi has been clear about the company's vision: "Glasses will materially replace most of the functionality that today we have embedded into our phones".

That is a bold claim. But when you consider that EssilorLuxottica sold more than 7 million AI glasses in 2025 alone, it starts to sound less like wishful thinking and more like a roadmap.

The company expects to reach 10 million unit capacity for its smart glasses earlier than anticipated. And this is not just about hardware. Grassi has noted that the overall ecosystem of wearables will bring revenue not only from hardware but also from lenses and, over time, from services tied to AI.

The EssilorLuxottica and Applied Materials partnership is a significant development in the smart glasses space. It brings together the world's largest eyewear maker with a semiconductor equipment giant to tackle the hardest challenge in AR: making displays that are light enough, bright enough, and affordable enough for everyday use.

If they succeed, the glasses on your face might soon be smarter than the phone in your pocket.