Meta adds cycling directions and voice-driven video avatars to Ray-Ban Display

Meta announced new features for its Ray-Ban Display glasses at Connect 2026 on September 23. Cycling and transit directions, an on-glasses Explore app, and a voice-driven video-call avatar are among the additions. The company also expanded sales to five European and North American markets. The announcement moves the glasses closer to an everyday interface, but much of the software is still scheduled for later release.

Directions without a phone screen

Meta says users will be able to request cycling directions by voice and see turn-by-turn instructions on the display. Transit guidance will show departures in real time. Both are due later this month in the United States and Canada, according to the company. Walking directions are also changing: instead of only naming streets, the glasses can refer to visible landmarks, such as a particular house. That may feel more natural, though it also depends on the system recognizing the surrounding scene correctly.

The company is adding an Explore app for experiences built specifically for the glasses. Calendar controls will show meeting attendees, let users respond to invitations and join calls. Meta says the calendar feature is available in English in the United States. Phone notifications are planned to appear on the display with controls for choosing which alerts are shown. These details matter because a wearable display has to filter information as carefully as it presents it.

A face built from voice

A feature called Hologram aims to put a photorealistic digital version of the wearer into video calls. Users make a short self-capture in the Meta AI app; during a call, the system infers facial expression from the speaker’s voice. Meta says early access on WhatsApp will begin in the United States later this fall. This is a generated representation, not a live camera view of the wearer’s face. That distinction should be clear to both people in the call.

Meta also says its glasses can record video with Dolby Atmos spatial audio. It describes this as a first for consumer devices, a company claim that has not been independently assessed here. Like other camera-equipped wearables, the usefulness of quick capture sits alongside questions about when people around the wearer know they are being recorded.

Wider sales, staggered features

Ray-Ban Display goes on sale in Canada and the United Kingdom on the announcement date. U.S. online ordering also begins then. Preorders in France, Italy and Germany start progressively ahead of October 13 availability. The rollout dates differ by feature and market, so buying the hardware does not mean every announced capability is immediately present. The practical test will be whether directions, calls and notifications work reliably in daily situations, beyond the stage demonstration.