The Ray-Ban Meta sensible glasses Meta launched final 12 months are catching on with shoppers — Meta bought extra pairs of the new glasses in simply a few months than the older 2021 Ray-Ban (then known as “Tales”) in two full years.
A part of the glasses’ success might be attributed to taking criticism from the competitors — after which hiring them.
The one who launched the brand new Ray-Ban Metas at Meta Join in October 2023 is its vp of product, Li-Chen Miller, who stepped into the function at Meta in 2022, after working for a Meta rival.
Li-Chen Miller. Picture by JOSH EDELSON/AFP through Getty Photos
In line with a Monday Bloomberg report, Miller wrote an intensive electronic mail in late 2021 to Alex Himel, then Meta’s head of wearables, detailing her expertise with the Ray-Ban Tales. She had purchased them, and had ideas and concepts about what to enhance.
“She wrote me an electronic mail that articulated what she thought was good in regards to the system and what was promising, after which an extended listing of issues that she would enhance,” Himel informed Bloomberg.
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On the time, Miller was company vp of Microsoft Search, Experiences, and Units at Microsoft and had labored there for practically twenty years in program supervisor roles. She had even shared the stage with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at a 2017 keynote occasion, the place she demoed new office options.
Himel hadn’t requested for the listing, although he agreed with most of Miller’s factors.
The following 12 months, Miller bought a job at Meta main the wearables division. The e-mail she despatched Himel performed a key function in her taking up the function she at present has at Meta, per Bloomberg.
Miller might take the stage on Wednesday at Meta’s annual Join occasion, the place the corporate is anticipated to announce updates to its sensible glasses.
Meta has already indicated that wearables are a spotlight transferring ahead. In line with a press launch from earlier this month, Meta goals to “write the historical past of wearables” by drawing out its Ray-Ban deal past 2030.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg additionally spoke positively in regards to the Ray-Ban Metas at its newest earnings name in July and mentioned the glasses had promising gross sales numbers.
“Ray-Ban Meta glasses proceed to be an even bigger hit prior to we anticipated — thanks partially to AI,” Zuckerberg mentioned. “Demand remains to be outpacing our capacity to construct them, however I am hopeful that we’ll have the ability to meet that demand quickly.”
