SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is hoping to make its
Internet-connected eyewear more stylish as part of a partnership with
the makers of Ray-Ban and Oakley frames.
The alliance with Italian
eyewear company Luxottica Group announced Monday represents Google’s
latest attempt to make wearable technology look less geeky as it tries
to develop new ways to ensure people can stay connected to the Internet
wherever they go. Last week, Google disclosed that fashion accessory
maker Fossil Group is working on an Internet-connected wristwatch that
runs Google’s Android software for mobile devices.
Luxottica will
develop frames equipped with Google Glass, a computing device that
includes a thumbnail-sized screen above the wearer’s right eye to view
Internet content. The $1,500 gadget also includes a camera that can take
hands-free pictures and video, a feature that has raised privacy
concerns.
Google Inc. so far has only sold Glass to a select group
of test subjects known as "Explorers," who have frequently been mocked
for wearing a piece of futuristic eyewear that looks better-suited for
cyborgs than for humans.
Luxottica is expected to help broaden
Glass’ appeal. Google is also planning to tap into the more than 5,000
stores that Luxottica runs in the U.S. to help sell Glass once the
device is released on the general market.
Google still hasn’t
spelled out when Glass will be broadly available, although the Mountain
View, Calif., company is still aiming for later this year.
More than 10,000 people have bought Glass as part of the Explorer program.
In
another move to make Glass more practical, Google in January unveiled
four frame styles that could also be outfitted with prescription lenses.
Those frames cost an additional $225.
The prices for Luxottica’s
line-up of Google Glass products won’t be announced until they are
closer to going on sale. Besides Ray-Ban and Oakley, Luxottica’s other
brands include Vogue-Eyewear, Persol, Oliver Peoples, Alain Mikli and
Arnette.
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