Intel acquired Recon Instruments, a maker of “smart eyewear” for sports, stating that the deal will give it “a talented, experienced wearable computing team that will help us expand the market for head mounted display products and technologies”.

Intel’s venture arm invested in Recon in 2013, with the silicon vendor stating it had “gotten to know and admire their products and people over the last couple of years”.

In a blog post, Dan Eisenhardt, co-founder and CEO of Recon, said that the company will “retain our talent, our brand and our entrepreneurial spirit”, but will benefit from additional resources to grow, including the ability to “extend our developer relations program, which will help us establish and sustain a strong app ecosystem”.

Intel also said that customers and retailers can “rest assured they’ll continue selling, enhancing and marketing their products under the Recon brand without disruption”.

“The team will also partner with Intel’s New Devices Group to develop smart device platforms for a broader set of customers and market segments,” it continued.

While smart eyewear has been identified as a key wearables category, so far this has not been met by commercial success. Google refocused its Google Glass effort late last year, with recent reports stating that it has “no sacred cows” when it comes to the category.

Intel’s interest in the category was also already apparent. Late last year it inked a deal with Luxottica, which owns brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley.