By Riley Kaminer
Remember the days before all our watches got ‘smart’? It wasn’t so long ago that rocking a bluetooth-enabled watch was viewed as something almost as radical as implanting an Elon Musk product into your cranium. Fast forward less than a decade, and now wearing smart watches is a mainstream consumer behavior – with smart watch pioneer Apple selling more watches annually than the entire Swiss watch industry.
Miami entrepreneur Harrison Gross is betting that this same consumer shift will happen when it comes to smart eyewear. He’s the CEO and co-founder of Innovative Eyewear, the company that owns Lucyd, a local brand that is making waves in the smart eyewear space.
“There has definitely been a sea change last year,” Gross [pictured above] told Refresh Miami. “Consumer awareness of smart glasses has increased significantly.” For years, the industry has been “plagued by overpromising and underdelivering,” he asserted.
But finally, thanks to innovative firms such as his, the technology has reached a sort of “critical mass.” For instance, Gross said that customers who return their purchases often do so for typical eyewear reasons (fit, style, etc.) rather than a gripe about the underlying technology. That was not necessarily the case even around a year ago, when we last caught up with Gross.
Lucyd’s specs can play music, take calls, use Siri, and, most crucially, connect the person wearing the glasses to ChatGPT. The world isn’t just at your fingertips – it’s right on your face.
One of the company’s significant advancements includes the hands-free ChatGPT integration for Samsung users, which was previously exclusive to Apple devices. This move bridges the gap for Android users, making smart eyewear more accessible and functional.
To further expand the reach of its eyewear, Lucyd has begun partnering with household names to bring its technology to these brands’ audiences. This includes Nautica, Reebok, and Eddie Bauer.
This partnership with Eddie Bauer has resulted in Lucyd’s highest-end product line yet. This collaboration has brought luxury finishes and a range of accessories to the smart eyewear market, including a cordless charging dock and a leather folding case.
The Eddie Bauer edition frames, which are all priced around $250, include the first true rimless smart eyewear frame on the market, blending style and technology in a way that makes incumbents seem clunky (sorry, Ray Ban).
Lucyd has also recently signed a major brand ambassador, Micha Richards, a former Olympic athlete and current sports broadcaster in the UK. This two-year deal aims to further increase the visibility and appeal of Lucyd’s products on a global scale.
All but two of Lucyd’s 14 employees are based in South Florida.
And Gross and team are not slowing down. They are gearing up to launch two more product lines this year. The first is a set of smart safety glasses, expected to hit the market in September. These glasses feature a transition lens, making them suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. The second is the Reebok line, designed for sports enthusiasts and expected in Q4 – bringing Lucyd’s lineup to 38 styles of smart glasses by the end of the year.
“In the future, a lot of the time you see someone wearing glasses, there will be some technology there,” shared Gross. “We’re really excited to be a pioneering force that’s making that happen.”
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