Meta’s throwing more cash into the metaverse with its acquisition of Luxexcel, a Netherlands-based firm that focuses on 3D-printing prescription lenses for sensible glasses. The information was first reported by Dutch outlet De Tijd (through TechCrunch), however Meta has since confirmed to The Verge that it bought the corporate.

“We’re excited that the Luxexcel staff has joined Meta, deepening the prevailing partnership between the 2 corporations,” Meta says in a press release offered by Ryan Moore, the corporate’s head of monetary communications. Whereas the phrases of the deal are unknown, Meta CTO and Actuality Labs head, Andrew Bosworth, revealed in a weblog submit earlier this month that the firm’s pouring “about half” of the metaverse-focused division’s working bills into augmented actuality (AR), whereas the opposite half’s going to constructing digital actuality merchandise (VR) because it continues to bleed billions.

Luxexcel, which was based in 2009, says it may well combine the weather wanted to create an augmented actuality expertise inside a prescription lens, similar to holographic movie and projectors. In 2021, it partnered with WaveOptics, the corporate that offers the shows for Snap’s Spectacles, to create a lens outfitted with waveguides, or the clear show know-how wanted to superimpose digital objects on a person’s real-life setting.

Whilst Meta works towards constructing its first pair of AR glasses, we could not see a completed product for a while. Bosworth says Meta’s AR glasses will “require years of progress” because it makes an attempt to make the machine “slimmer, lighter, sooner, and extra highly effective.” In June, The Verge’s Alex Heath reported that the primary model of Meta’s AR glasses will solely be obtainable to builders — identical to Snap’s Spectacles — whereas two later pairs might turn out to be obtainable to shoppers over the course of a number of years.