Virat Kohli Joins Hands With Meta & Oakley To Launch AI-Powered Performance Glasses In India

Amid the ongoing IPL season, Oakley and Meta have announced a new collaboration with Virat Kohli, positioning the cricketer as the face of their AI-powered performance glasses in India. The move brings together sport, wearable technology and content creation at a time when athlete-led storytelling is becoming central to brand strategy.

The Oakley Meta Performance AI glasses are designed to integrate hands-free artificial intelligence into training and gameplay environments. The product focuses on enabling athletes to capture moments, access real-time insights and document performance without interrupting the flow of activity. For Kohli, the proposition sits somewhere between instinct and data.

“Performance has always been a balance of instinct and awareness, and increasingly that is being shaped by data,” said Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President, India and South East Asia at Meta. She added that the idea is to deliver “timely insights and lightweight assistance” that fit naturally into an athlete’s routine, without becoming intrusive.

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Content Driven Performance Shift:

The collaboration also leans heavily on content. Audiences are expected to get a first-person view of Kohli’s training sessions, match preparation and behind-the-scenes moments. This signals a shift from polished, post-produced sports content to more immersive, real-time storytelling, something platforms and brands are increasingly investing in.

From a brand standpoint, the partnership is a clear play at cultural relevance. Cricket in India offers scale, but pairing it with wearable AI opens up a newer conversation around performance tech and everyday utility. Corey Hill, Head of Global Sports Marketing at Oakley, framed it as an extension of the brand’s long-standing focus on pushing performance boundaries, with Kohli representing a mindset of discipline and constant improvement.

Tech Blends Into Athlete Routine:

Kohli himself pointed to the practical value. “I have always relied on instinct, but also on understanding my game better over time,” he said, noting that the glasses add “small layers of insight without getting in the way.” The emphasis, he suggested, is on consistency, using data to refine performance over time rather than overwhelm it.

For marketers and media companies, the collaboration highlights how hardware is becoming content-first. Wearables are no longer just fitness tools; they are storytelling devices. For consumers, especially younger audiences, it blends aspiration with access, offering a closer look at elite athletes while subtly introducing AI into everyday experiences.

More broadly, it reflects how tech companies like Meta are embedding themselves deeper into cultural ecosystems like sport, using familiar faces to make emerging technology more relatable and usable.