My vision is starting to go. I’ve needed a light prescription for glasses for years and resisted wearing them, but the last few years it’s gotten harder and harder to see things clearly. Each time I’ve needed glasses, I buy two pairs, a pair of sunglasses and normal eyeglasses, usually after an eye exam, both pairs from Warby Parker. Same old routine, they usually have my new prescription and after insurance rebates it costs me about $150 USD.

This past winter was a little harder. The days have felt shorter and the dark somehow darker. Some people had remarked that getting some sunlight could help. If in the middle of December, you were to do a web search for “where is there sunlight right now”, you would get a variety of options. Bali, parts of Mexico, most of the continent of Africa, coastal Australia and in the United States, you would only reliably land on Florida. The day after I was suggested this, my boss offered me two passes to Universal Studios in Orlando, FL. Many folks I work with live in Florida, so a few days of sun and fun to be ended with a sync-up with some coworkers, seemed like a worthy enough opportunity to leave my house in the dead of winter. A 3-day drive, sure, but a few days with nothing but audiobooks, podcasts and heavily curated playlists alone seemed like a break in and of itself.

I met my friend Tay in Orlando and we spent four lovely days together. The park, lovely little indie cafés with unbeatable coffee, bookstores and the company of someone who hadn’t yet heard all my stories (perhaps I’m spending too much time with my dad).

She asked about my glasses being uncomfortable noticing I was constantly adjusting and moving. I told her I didn’t grow up with them so they had always felt foreign to me. She asked if I liked my frames from Warby Parker and if I’d recommend them. So we went to a Warby Parker store in one of many, many malls in Central Florida. She’d never been. These stores are smaller but have full tables to layout the merchandise and lens with ample seating; very different than some of the other stores in the mall.

It is my estimation that Florida is comprised of 51% swamp, 47% outlet mall and 2% charm.

As Tay was trying glasses on, I looked at the price points again and really started to consider them. When we walked around the theme park, I noticed for the first time, dozens of parents wearing the Meta Ray Bans, hoping to capture some video of their child without the encumbrance of waving a phone in their direction. The entry price is near $300 for a baseline pair of Meta’s smart glasses, normally a pair of Ray Bans retails for just under $200. In comparison, the higher end frames at Warby Parker will run you closer to $150.

While I was scrolling Reddit in my hotel, as one does, someone claimed to have the patent for Apple’s rumored competitor to Meta’s smart glasses. This patent suggested that Apple would opt for internals different to Meta that would support binocular display and having floating 3D content. Meta is only monocular and isn’t fully immersive. The patent suggested that comfort and long-term wear was central to whatever Apple was designing.

Then I registered that I had walked past an Hermes sign on the way to this shop. Apple probably will partner with an established fashion brand for their rumored glasses like they did with the Apple Watch. What if it’s Warby Parker? Maybe the entry price would be $450. As Tay was modeling in front of me, not every set of frames flattered every face, her choices would look so odd on me. She also remarked she had a strong preference for metal over plastic. The fashion partner would need to be more critical than Apple’s previous choices to work with Nike and Hermes.

At this point, I should’ve apologized for all the weird looks on my face.

In May of 2025, Mark Gurman reported in Bloomberg that Apple were working on a pair smart glasses to compete directly with Meta’s Ray Ban project. These glasses are expected to have cameras, microphones, and speakers, capable of analyzing the environment and supporting interactions like Siri voice requests. In October of that year MacRumors, started circulating that work on the Apple Vision Pro had halted (a long guessed community rumor) and that these rumored glasses could ship as early as 2027 but they would not be a standalone device needing the iPhone.

Apple’s Vision Prop was met some awkward reception. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/01/apple-reportedly-cuts-production-vision-pro-headset-poor-sales

Throughout November of 2025, at least three friends had been telling me that they had gotten a Vision Pro. The wave of absurdity of seeing people with diver’s goggles on their faces had subsided. But the key feature they kept coming back to was the remote desktop mirroring.

Meta, to their credit, bifurcated their market, the gaming with the Quest series and the creator market with the their collaborations with Oakley and Ray Ban.

Meta Orion prototype.

Eventually, I made the drive back to Pennsylvania from Orlando. Tay had put it in my head that I should probably get a graduate degree. All I could do was think about programs where I could study this type of interaction.