Meta announces new features for Meta Ray-Ban Display, including expanded heads-up navigation tools, a new Explore app, and Dolby Atmos audio support

Holographic avatars in calls are now a functional feature, altering the visual experience of remote communication.

Meta announced several updates for its Ray-Ban Display smart glasses at its Connect 2026 conference. A significant new feature is holographic avatar support for calls, powered by Meta AI, which generates a photorealistic hologram driven by the user's voice and inferred expressions. This feature will initially be available in early access for US WhatsApp users this fall. Navigation tools are also enhanced with voice-activated cycling and public transit directions, rolling out to the US and Canada later this month. These directions can now incorporate environmental cues like landmarks instead of just street names. Meta is introducing an Explore app to help users discover compatible programs for the glasses, addressing a previous limitation. Additional updates include Dolby Atmos audio, in-display photo editing, a more detailed calendar, mirrored phone notifications, and Threads integration. The Ray-Ban Display will also expand to five new markets: the UK, Canada, France, Italy, and Germany, with pricing and availability details announced for these regions.

Meta's push for more immersive communication with holographic avatars signals a significant advancement in integrating AI-driven virtual presence into everyday wearables. This move addresses the inherent limitations of video calls when using devices like smart glasses, aiming to bridge the gap between physical and digital interaction. The inference of expression from voice alone represents a complex AI challenge being tackled for real-time avatar generation, suggesting a rapid maturation of Meta's AI capabilities in understanding and translating human emotion into digital form.

The expansion of navigation to include environmental cues, moving beyond static street names, indicates a shift towards more context-aware and natural user interfaces in wearables. This, combined with the new Explore app to surface compatible programs, suggests Meta is actively trying to make its smart glasses more useful and discoverable as a platform. The rollout to new international markets and varying price points shows a strategic effort to broaden adoption and gather diverse user data for further development.