Facebook Executive Says Company’s Smart Glasses Will Do This

According to social media giant Facebook’s head of consumer devices, Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, the company’s upcoming augmented reality smart glasses will do some pretty impressive things.

The glasses will be different than those of rivals as it will focus on connecting people.

Bosworth, Facebook’s vice president of AR/VR, spoke with CNBC at the Oculus Connect 6 conference in San Jose, California and said, “As long as people are exploring this technology, we probably all benefit from it.”

“Getting consumers used to having these types of devices in their lives and building some expectations around how to manage privacy and how to manage data use on these devices, that’s all going to help the entire industry,” added Bosworth.

In the interview, the Facebook executive compared Facebook’s new offerings to what rivals are doing in the AR and virtual reality market.

“We’re very much focused on how can this machine be used to connect with other humans, whereas a lot of other companies are much more focused on just what the machine itself is,” Bosworth told CNBC’s Josh Lipton.

Facebook already has a few prototypes, but the devices are still a few years out.

Recently CNBC also reported that Facebook is partnering with Ray-Ban maker Luxottica to develop AR smart glasses that could be ready for consumers by 2023 and 2025. According to that report, there’s no guarantee that the glasses will be completed on time or ever ship but a source familiar with the project said that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a strong interest in the glasses.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Facebook, Inc. Common Stock (NASDAQ: FB) and have not been compensated for this article.