Facebook’s and Instagram’s parent company Meta has acquired Dutch startup Luxexcel, which specializes in smart glasses. News of the purchase was first confirmed by De Tijd and later by TechCrunch. Luxexcel, which was founded in2009, has recently made a name for itself in the augmented reality (AR) space.
So far, there is little information on exactly how Meta plans to get into the smart glasses business, but there are rumors that the group previously worked with Luxexcel on the AR Glasses project “Project Aria.”
Augmented reality allows us to enrich the real world around us with digital content. But previous projects in the field of smart glasses have gotten off to a rather mediocre start. Competitor Google in particular has made some learnings from their very early walking attempts with Google Glass and made some adjustments.
The market for smart devices and wearables is highly competitive. The acquisition by Meta therefore comes as no surprise, as it fits into the tech giant’s strategy and allows them to deepen the partnership they already have with the startup.
But then, acquisitions are not that simple. Meta itself is currently under regulatory review by the FTC due to its purchase of Within, another smart wear company. It remains to be seen how this will affect Meta’s future plans for AR glasses and how all the acquisitions will ultimately play out together.
