Oakley Smart Glasses Could Rival Google's Project Glass

Oakley Inc. is reportedly in the process of developing technology capable of projecting information directly on to the lenses of spectacles, according to a report on Bloomberg. The technology, Oakley Chief Executive Colin Baden adds, should allow for the production of hardware similar to Google's Project Glass.

"As an organisation, we have been chasing this beast since 1997. Ultimately, everything happens through your eyes, and the closer we can bring it to your eyes, the quicker the consumer is going to adopt the platform," Baden explained. The CEO added Oakley had plans to target athletes with this heads-up technology and the company could even develop the same product for the US military.

"Obviously, you can think of many applications in the competitive field of sports. That is the halo point of where we would begin, but certainly you can transcend that into a variety of other applications," he continued. However, the early versions of the glasses, Baden stressed, would not be a low-cost product.

The glasses themselves would be able to function both independently and with a smartphone. The device should, in addition, work with voice-activated commands similar to Apple's Siri.

"There are a lot of interesting optical issues that come up when you are trying to create a positive experience when interacting with these devices. So the technology barrier to success is significant," Baden concluded.

Oakley has released sunglasses in 2004 that features MP3 music player built in. The device, called Thump, though not a big hit, is still profitable, according to Baden. The latest versionof the device, Thump Pro, priced at $129 ( £80.70) comes with a storage of 500MB. The storage capacity shows that it is capable of carrying a quarter the songs of the smallest iPod.

Earlier, Internet search giant Google had introduced prototypes for augmented reality glasses constructed under a research group codenamed Project Glass. The group is working under the larger umbrella of Google X and the same team that was involved in developing self-driving cars.

Finally, there have even been reports suggesting Apple is working on wearable computing, as are game developers Valve Software.