Oakley’s 30-year heritage is touched by innovation, science, art, and a mark of excellence in performance. Oakley has not only revolutionized the sport eyewear industry, but they continue to push the envelope in technological advancements. Now that the age of wearable tech is taking over, Oakley is perfectly positioned as optics specialists to dominate the eyewear industry with wearable tech. Research last year by Credit Suisse, a global company with market-leading teams strategists, economists, fixed income product analysts and equity sector analysts, found wearable tech to be “the next big thing” and predicted the industry was set to grow from $3-5 billion today to $50 billion within five years.
Following this predicted trend is Colin Baden, CEO of Oakley. He is a strong supporter of wearable tech and just announced that electronic eyewear is one of the three “innovation pillars” his company is working on.
Ryan Calilung, Director of Research and Development, and Ryan Saylor, Director of Optical Development, recently revealed Oakley’s future plans for smart sport glasses following their 2012 heads-up display (HUD) goggles, the Airwaves. The Airwave goggles were built by Oakley and Recon Instruments, and “were its first leap into augmented reality sports tech in 2012.” They featured a built-in head display, GPS, Bluetooth, preloaded maps, music control, and onboard sensors. Saylor revealed that as Oakley continues to improve the Airwave model, they’ve “redefined the operating system” and how customers interact with it. “The Buddy Tracker (locating friends with Airwave goggles or the Oakley app) as simple as it is,” says Calilung “has been an incredible hit in terms of the social aspect. Gone are the days when it was just a guy out there snowboarding by himself.”
The innovation shown in Airwave’s UI, technology and design can also be applied to other sports. Calilung explains “If you go to any serious enthusiasts – not even active competitors – the amount of data they’re collecting now, from Strava and any of those programs, it’s massive.” Oakley has already opened up the space for wearable tech goggles that feature data. “Any sport with data, metrics or some sort of real-time information is within our realm of opportunity,” says Saylor.
So what does the future of action sports look like with Oakley at the forefront of wearable technology? “The future according to Oakley involves around six to seven wearables on our body – sensors, watches, smart glasses – all communicating to each other.” Saylor is looking to create a “non-intrusive experience” with discrete devices. “There’s a world of AR and a world of heads up displays” according to Saylor, and new electronic eyewear devices are being developed with optimal optics and clarity in mind. They want to enhance the information projected onto the lenses, which could be specifically targeted at athletes. Baden told Bloomberg that Oakley Inc. “is developing technology that can project information directly onto lenses, putting the sunglass maker into potential competition with Google Inc.” and Google’s Project Glass. “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” says Baden.
Any measurable metrics could be displayed through lenses, and this could drastically improve athlete performance if they are getting constant feedback while in action. Athletes would finally have the ability to access helpful performance data without opening an app or stopping to check a screen. Fitness bands and performance-measuring sensors could transmit notifications straight to an athlete’s line of vision without hindering their activity. Imagine the future of competitive actions sports with smart glasses integrated into it. Sensors could discretely alert an athlete if they are slowing down or keeping a winning pace. Smart glasses could provide jump analytics, altitude changes, and vertical descent data in a non-intrusive manner. This would drastically affect how athletes compete because they’d have a heightened sense of what is going on around them.
Coaches could even send their athletes stats or tips, which previously may not have been possible in an action sport environment where the high speeds don’t allow coaches to give their athletes immediate feedback.
Overall, wearable technology infused with smart sport glasses unlocks a huge wave of possibilities for athletes and the future of action sports. The wearable revolution is lowering the barrier to accessing information, and with a design focus on keeping athlete’s heads up with HUD technology, athletes will be able to stay focused and aware of their environment.