Wearables and the future of clinical care took centre stage at Transitions Academy 2025 held February 2-5 in Orlando, with showcases of how smart eyewear and new patient care delivery methods were likely to change optical practices within the next few years.
Opening the conference, president of Transitions Optical and EssilorLuxottica professional solutions, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Chrystel Barranger, told the 1,300 delegates that technology forecasters had predicted the next five years could see the equivalent of 100 years of scientific research.
‘What we used to call science fiction is now the norm,’ said Barranger, before showing clips of science fiction films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Total Recall and I, Robot, which depicted early visions of tablets, smart watches and tech-enabled eyewear. She told the audience that glasses had long been a symbol of futurism in science fiction, but with the invention of Ray-Ban Meta, that future was now the present.
Chief wearables officer and president of Oliver Peoples, Rocco Basilico, said the advent of smart glasses was a seminal moment in the eyewear sector that was comparable to when Luxottica signed a licensing agreement with Giorgio Armani in the 1980s. ‘Glasses went from something functional to something that people really wanted to wear and look cool. It led to the proliferation of designer brands like Prada and Versace,’ said Basilico.
Underlining the importance of eye care professionals in the future of smart eyewear, Basilico predicted: ‘You, as vision experts, are at the forefront of this movement. People will walk into your stores looking for your advice a bit like in the 1980s and 1990s, when people were coming into the store and seeking designer glasses. A new stream is going to be completely unlocked.’
Basilico pointed out that he understood scepticism about the product and smart glasses in general, but drew comparisons with other wearables. ‘People asked why we needed an Apple Watch when we already had an iPhone, but it’s becoming a big story of success in the wearable device business, worth more than $40bn per year to Apple.
‘Look at the Oura smart ring – at first it was dismissed completely. “Why do we need the ring? Why do we need another fitness tracker in our life? Why do we need to track our sleep?” It has sold millions all over the world and to top athletes and executives.’
AI Investment
The functionality of Ray-Ban Meta has increased enormously thanks to the continued development and integration of artificial intelligence (AI), said Basilico, which EssilorLuxottica’s partner, Meta, will invest more than $60bn in 2025 alone.
Appearing by video link, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told delegates he saw glasses as the next big computing platform. ‘They have the potential to bring technology more seamlessly into our physical world, so we can look up from our screens and be more present in the world.
‘We believe we’re heading towards a future where glasses replace phones as our go-to mobile device. They’re going to be more intuitive and convenient than our phones today and they’re going to help us stay in the moment even as we use technology to learn, connect and create,’ he said.
The importance of AI within EssilorLuxottica’s breakthrough wearable device, Nuance Audio, was also underlined during the event. As the company goes on to develop Nuance Audio with improved software, which controls how the glasses process sound according to where the user is looking, new sensors will be built into the device that measure blood pressure, blood oxygenation and body temperature.
EssilorLuxottica also used the event to break the news that Nuance Audio had received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in the US and CE certification in Europe. Delegates were told as soon as the company received notification from the FDA on Friday evening (January 31), more than 25,000 units were shipped from China to the US, with 5,000 clearing US customs just two days later.
Sales will begin in the US almost immediately, with a rollout in Europe, including the UK, in the first half of the year.
- Additional coverage from Transitions Academy will appear in future issues of Optician.
