Oakley Sunglasses That Talk Back
Thanks to Oakley's Meta Vanguard glasses, your workouts can now get meta.
Yes, that Meta. The Mark Zuckerberg-led company that owns the apps you’re probably reading this on has been building out hard tech for years, and its glasses are starting to feel less like experiments and more like real gear. Its Ray-Bans handled the everyday “I see you” flex, its Display glasses hinted at the future, and now Oakley Meta Vanguard takes the tech straight into high-intensity sports.
At first glance, they look like normal Oakleys. They rock wraparound frames, Prizm lenses, the whole “serious athlete” vibe. But slip them on and you’re basically wearing Meta AI on your face. You can ask about your pace mid-run, check heart rate, or let the glasses light up a subtle LED in your peripheral vision when you’re on target. No looking down, no breaking stride.
The integration with Garmin and Strava might be the slickest part. The glasses can auto-capture video when you hit a milestone — say, a new distance record or a brutal hill climb — so your highlight reel makes itself.
Then Strava overlays your stats right onto the footage, ready to share.
The specs include nine hours of battery or six hours of continuous music, water resistance that can handle sweat or rain, and speakers loud enough to cut through wind when you’re biking 30 mph.
All for $499, which feels steep for shades but not too wild if you’re already dropping money on Oakleys or high-end training gear.
The bigger question is whether athletes really want AI whispering in their ear mid-ride, or if this is more about rocking futuristic Oakleys on Strava.
Either way, it’s clear Meta has shifted smart glasses from lifestyle to performance, and every run, ride, and lift is now one step closer to a highlight reel.
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