Facebook announced the development of smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban

In a move that could revolutionize the wearable technology market, Facebook has announced the development of its first-ever smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban. The social media giant plans to release the glasses before the end of 2021.

The glasses, which will be marketed under the Ray-Ban brand, will enable users to take phone calls, listen to music, and capture photos and videos all from their glasses. The glasses will be connected to users' smartphones via Bluetooth and will feature a microphone and a small speaker.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, the company has been working on this project for several years and sees the glasses as the first step towards building a fully-fledged augmented reality platform. "We're excited about the possibilities of AR [augmented reality] and VR [virtual reality], and we're working hard to bring them to our users in new and innovative ways," he said.

The smart glasses will not have a display or augmented reality features, at least not at first, and will be primarily focused on audio and camera features. However, Facebook has stated that it will be exploring ways to integrate AR and VR into future versions of the glasses.

The announcement of the glasses comes at a time when the wearable technology market is rapidly growing, and many tech giants are trying to develop their own products. While Facebook has not disclosed the exact pricing for the smart glasses, it has stated that they will be priced competitively, and will be available for purchase both online and in stores.

Critics of the smart glasses, however, have expressed concern over privacy issues, given Facebook's past controversies involving user data. However, the company has assured users that the glasses will come with privacy and security features to protect user data.

Overall, Facebook's partnership with Ray-Ban to develop smart glasses has the potential to be a game-changer in the wearable technology market. It will be interesting to see how users respond to the glasses once they hit the market later this year.