At META CONNECT 2026, Meta refreshed RAY-BAN DISPLAY with software that leans into everyday use: landmark-aware NAVIGATION, a voice-driven call HOLOGRAM, a new on-glasses EXPLORE app, and broader retail reach. The company laid out the stack in its Newsroom post; Engadget and The Verge independently matched the feature and MARKET details.
Hands-Free Navigation Gets Cycling, Transit, and Landmarks
Heads-up NAVIGATION remains the Display’s most requested everyday tool, and Meta is EXPANDING it. Starting later this month in the US and CANADA, wearers can ask for CYCLING directions or real-time PUBLIC TRANSIT departures by voice, keeping the phone pocketed while turn cues sit on the in-lens SCREEN.
Walking guidance is also shifting tone. Instead of only street-name prompts, Meta says Display will reference the scene ahead—for example, “turn left at the yellow house”—so cues sound more like a person than a GPS READBACK. That LANDMARK style is a direct response to how people already describe routes outdoors.
Hologram Puts a Face on Glasses Calls
HOLOGRAM is Meta’s answer to the obvious call problem with opaque frames: the other person cannot see your FACE. After a short self-capture in the META AI app, Display can present a photorealistic digital face on WhatsApp calls. Meta says the model is driven entirely by VOICE and infers expression from what you say and how you say it—no phone propped on the counter, no awkward selfie ANGLE.
Rollout is STAGED, not universal. EARLY ACCESS on WhatsApp begins later this fall for Display users in the US. Engadget notes the same window and emphasizes that the AVATAR is created from the Meta AI capture flow rather than live outward cameras alone.
Explore App, Dolby Atmos Capture, and Daily Utilities
App scarcity has dogged Display since LAUNCH. EXPLORE—available on the glasses and in the Meta AI app—aims to surface experiences built for the display so users can learn, browse, and play without hunting obscure SIDELOADS. Meta also claims Display is the first consumer device that can capture and play back video in DOLBY ATMOS, recording spatial SURROUND natively.
Utility updates round out the PACKAGE: a stronger CALENDAR that shows attendees, accepts or declines invites, and joins meetings from the glasses (English, US); mirrored phone NOTIFICATIONS you can filter; photo editing on the display; and THREADS Community Feeds as a live companion you can follow and repost from the frames.
Online Ordering and Five New Markets
Hardware access expands with the SOFTWARE. Meta is introducing ONLINE ORDERING in the US and five new markets—the UK, CANADA, FRANCE, ITALY, and GERMANY. Sales begin TODAY in Canada and the UK; France, Italy, and Germany open progressive pre-orders today ahead of availability on OCTOBER 13.
Engadget’s Connect wrap cites list pricing as $799 for US online orders, £749 in the UK, CA$1,149 in Canada, and €899 for the continental launch trio. Retail footprints include Vancouver, Toronto, and London now, with Paris, Milan, Rome, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich on the October wave. Meta also flags Rx paths via EssilorLuxottica optical stores in France and Italy starting October 13, and later in Germany.
Taken together, the Connect UPDATE does not reinvent Display’s HARDWARE. It thickens the software layer—NAVIGATION, presence on calls, discoverable apps, and real storefronts—while Meta keeps Gen 3, AUDIO, and VR Glasses as separate SKUS. For buyers who already own Display, the near-term watch items are the US/Canada transit-and-cycling cue drop later this month and the US WhatsApp HOLOGRAM early access later this fall.
Sources: Meta Newsroom; Engadget; Engadget Connect roundup; The Verge; The Verge Muse/glasses.