Luxottica inks deal with Intel to develop hi-tech glasses

Milan

ITALY'S Luxottica is joining forces with US chipmaker Intel Corp to develop glasses that combine its top fashion brands with technology that could allow wearers to access information about their health or location. The world's biggest eyewear maker said on Wednesday that the frames developed with Intel would serve very specific purposes, and would not compete with its existing deal to manufacture and distribute Google's Internet-connected glasses.

Intel is also involved in the Google Glass project as its chips will replace components from Texas Instruments in the new version of the "smart" spectacles, The Wall Street Journal said in a report this week. "We've started to work on sensors which can detect, say, temperature or location," Luxottica chief executive Massimo Vian told Reuters, declining to give further details about the deal with Intel. "They provide their chips, we our brands," he added.