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Mark Zuckerberg teases wearable tech with neural interface in Facebook post

May 04, 2022 at 02:02 pm EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, on Wednesday teased a new smart glasses project with EssilorLuxottica, posting a photo of the eyewear company's chairman sporting a prototype of a neural interface wristband - designed for directing other devices.

"Here Leonardo is using a prototype of our neural interface EMG [electromyography] wristband that will eventually let you control your glasses and other devices," Zuckerberg said in a post on Facebook, referring to EssilorLuxottica's chairman, Leonardo Del Vecchio. He closed his message with a smiley-face emoji wearing sunglasses.

Facebook - which changed its name to Meta Platforms in October - said in a blog post last year that it planned to develop a wristband that would control augmented reality glasses, allowing users to interact with a virtual world using finger movements.

Zuckerberg was in Milan to discuss plans for new smart glasses with the eyewear company, he said.

Tech companies Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google have piled in to the wearable tech business, developing augmented reality glasses in a bet they could one day replace mobile phones. Google also embraced fitness tracking technology by acquiring Fitbit for $2.1 billion.

In 2020, EssilorLuxottica and Meta Platforms announced a multiyear collaboration to develop smart glasses. They currently sell frames like the classic Ray-Ban Wayfarer model that are embedded with technology, allowing the wearer to take photos and listen to music and calls, starting at $299.

(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer in Paris; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

Stocks mentioned in the article

Add to a list Add to a list 0 selected To use this feature you must be a member Log in Sign up	Price	Change	5d. change	Capi.
ESSILORLUXOTTICA	203.3 EUR	-0.25%	-0.20%	97.96B
APPLE INC.	170 USD	-1.53%	-0.20%	2,667B
ALPHABET INC.	155.3 USD	+0.31%	-1.24%	1,934B
AMAZON.COM, INC.	184.4 USD	+0.40%	-1.13%	1,910B
LEONARDO S.P.A.	22.67 EUR	+0.18%	+5.05%	13.84B

Mark Zuckerberg

Youngest billionaire in the world with 4 billion dollars in 2010, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of the social networking site Facebook, was the 52nd richest men in the world in 2011 (according to Forbes). His personal fortune was estimated at $ 13.5 billion in 2011.

Graduated in 2003 from Phillips Exeter Academy, Mark Zuckerberg joined Harvard. Keen on informatics and gifted in programming, he created his first network aimed to rate the sex appeal of his friends by hacking photos on the servers of Harvard. The user has two portraits of girls and he has to vote for the sexiest girl. Success is dazzling: 22 000 connections in two hours.

In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg officially launched Facebook, a social network designed primarily for students of Harvard and other universities, the success was immediate. Little by little, Mark adds functionalities which allow to find people, communicate with them and to see friend in common.

In 2006, Facebook is opened to the public. The popularity of the social network growas each day and overtakes My Space.

Mark Zuckerberg used advertising based on behaviors of network users. Advertisers could easily target customers interested in their offers. But Mark Zuckerberg has to update constantly his securities policy. In 2010, 500 million people had a Facebook account.

In 2007, Microsoft spent $ 280 million to hold 1.7 % of the fastest growing social network. The Chinese billionaire spent $ 120 million to hold approximately 0.8% of Facebook.

In 2010, Facebook counted 500 million members and had a turnover of $ 500 million in 2009. It is the 5th most visited website in the world. In 2011, Mark Zuckerberg leaded the way of the most powerful figure according to Medias ahead Rupert Murdoch, Larry Page and Steve Jobs (The Guardian).

Mark Zuckerberg has been in trial twice, the first one against the Winklevoss twins who accused him of intellectual property offense, the second one against Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of The Facebook ( the first version of Facebook), who was his roommate at Harvard but also his best friend.

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META PLATFORMS, INC.	Chief Executive Officer
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative LLC Chan Zuckerberg Initiative LLC Investment Trusts/Mutual FundsMiscellaneous Chan Zuckerberg Initiative LLC (CZI) is a private foundation headquartered in Redwood City, California. The firm was founded was co-founded by Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg in 2015 to help solve some of society’s toughest challenges — from eradicating disease and improving education, to addressing the needs of their local communities. CZI is composed of four funding entities: the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC (the main operational funding vehicle); the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation (a 501(c)(3) private foundation); the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Advocacy, (a 501(c)(4) organization). In addition to traditional grantmaking to support people and organizations working toward their missions in Science, Education, and within their communities, CZI makes venture investments in impact-focused companies, builds tools and products that they can scale and give away for free, and supports capacity building to achieve progress across their work.	Chief Executive Officer

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META PLATFORMS, INC.

Chief Executive Officer