Meta is adding cycling and transit directions, hologram calling and a richer calendar to Meta Ray-Ban Display, and it is opening online ordering in the US. The glasses are also expanding to the UK, Canada, France, Italy and Germany.
The updates were announced at Connect on September 23. Meta Ray-Ban Display are the company’s AI glasses with a built-in display and a Neural Band, announced last September.
Navigation Now Covers Cycling and Public Transit
Users can ask for directions by voice, and the display will show turn-by-turn cycling directions or real-time transit departures, so the phone can stay in a pocket. Cycling and transit directions start later this month in the US and Canada.
Walking directions will also sound more like a person, because Meta Ray-Ban Display is expected to use what is in front of the wearer instead of naming street signs. It might tell the wearer to turn left at the yellow house rather than at Third Street.
Hologram Calls Start in Early Access on WhatsApp This Fall
Hologram creates a photorealistic digital version of the wearer’s face for video calls from the glasses. Setup starts with a short self capture in the Meta AI app. The hologram is driven entirely by voice, and the model infers expressions from what the wearer says and how they say it, so nobody has to hold a phone at an awkward angle.
Hologram begins rolling out in Early Access on WhatsApp to Meta Ray-Ban Display users in the US later this fall.
Calendar, Notifications and Threads Come to the Display
A new Explore app will let people browse experiences built for the glasses, and it will also appear in the Meta AI app. Several everyday features are arriving at the same time.
- Calendar: see who is attending a meeting, accept or decline invites and join meetings from the glasses, in English in the US
- Mirrored notifications: phone alerts appear on the display, with controls to turn off the ones you do not want, coming soon
- Threads: follow curated Community Feeds and repost from the glasses
- Video capture: record and play back video in Dolby Atmos with spatial surround sound
Online Ordering Opens in the US and Five New Markets
Meta Ray-Ban Display can now be ordered online in the US, starting today. Sales and pre-orders roll out in five new markets on different dates.
- US: online ordering begins today
- Canada and UK: online ordering and retail sales begin today, with stores in Vancouver, Toronto and London
- France, Italy and Germany: pre-orders start progressively today, with online ordering and retail sales beginning October 13
Retail sales in Europe start October 13 in Paris, Milan, Rome, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. Prescription lenses arrive on the same date through EssilorLuxottica optical stores in France and Italy, and later this year in Germany.
Our Take
Navigation and calendar are the features that make a display useful all day, and cycling directions are a good fit for glasses because a phone is awkward to check on a bike. Hologram calling is the one I am unsure about, since it depends on how natural a voice-driven face looks on a real call.
