(Image credit: Rik Henderson / Future)

Remember when your Mum used to tell you that sitting too close to the screen would cause your eyes to go square? Well, we might all be looking like Steve from Minecraft before long – at least if the owner of Ray-Ban's parent company has anything to do with it.

In a recent episode of Bloomberg's Italian-language podcast, EssilorLuxottica CEO, Francesco Milleri, said, "Glasses, which have long been seen as prosthetics and later as fashion accessories, are poised to become the central device in people’s lives, possibly replacing smartphones.”

That's a bold claim, though it doesn't seem entirely far-fetched. Recent reports have suggested that brands as far reaching as Apple, Samsung, Google and Amazon could all be looking to enter the smart glasses market in the coming years.

That comes in addition to brand's like Meta – which has famously partnered with Ray-Ban, as well as Oakley more recently, and Prada in the near future – and Snapchat, which has been quietly making large strides in that arena.

It makes a lot of sense. While the current crop of XR headsets – like the Apple Vision Pro and the Meta Quest 3 – are powerful devices, they don't exactly blend in while wandering around in public.

(Image credit: Matt Kollat)

That technology in a more fashion-focused body has been the goal for most of the aforementioned brands for a while now. And if anything could replace the phone as the dominant method of engaging with tech, smart glasses seem a likely candidate.

Given how long Meta has been working on this technology with Ray-Ban, it's fair to say it's currently in the driving seat. Whether or not it will stay there remains to be seen – particularly with a lot of major tech brands prepping their own efforts.

Whatever happens, it's going to be an exciting new frontier for tech lovers.