EssilorLuxottica, Applied Materials strike deal to develop smart glasses, AR technology

June 16 (Reuters) - EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest eyewear maker, has signed a long-term deal with chipmaking equipment company Applied Materials to develop augmented reality display technology and AI glasses, the companies said on Tuesday.

Here are some details:

• EssilorLuxottica and Applied Materials will scale up commercialisation of AI glasses

• Research and development will focus on advanced optical technologies

• EssilorLuxottica already leads the AI-glasses market through a long-term partnership with Meta to sell smart glasses under the Ray-Ban and Oakley brands

• Their first device with a built-in display, the Ray-Ban Meta Display, was launched in 2025

• AI-powered glasses embed a camera, microphone and speakers into a conventional frame, with an AI voice assistant that answers questions and describes surroundings

• Augmented reality, which overlays digital images onto the user's field of vision, is a far more complex optical challenge

• California-based Applied Materials makes the specialised equipment used to engineer the ultra-thin material layers at the heart of semiconductor chips needed for AR displays

(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Barbara Lewis)