The Ray-Ban Display – Meta’s flagship smart wearable glasses – the ones with the display overlay and not to be confused with the seemingly more popular camera-only models- are getting quite a significant update.
After months in a limited-access beta state within Messenger and WhatsApp, Neural Handwriting is finally available to all. It works on both iOS and Android and across Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and your phone’s message notifications to search for contacts and to send and reply to messages. Naturally, you do have to be wearing the Neural Band accessory that comes bundled in the box with the $800 glasses. Using its advanced sEMG tech, the band can recognize as you move your fingers on any surface (a desk, your palm, your leg) “writing” a given letter. Neat.
But this is just part of Meta update 125, which also adds a display recording feature. It captures the in-display image, camera POV and surrounding audio all inside the same video file. Maps have been expanded with richer results, walking directions that now cover the entire US and major international cities like London, Paris and Rome, saved home/work locations and voice navigation. WhatsApp now supports group video calls and phone call captions. Instagram has improved Reels and DM navigation, and Facebook has widgets for birthdays and sports.
Meta Ray Ban Display update 125 changelog
Perhaps the most intriguing bit, however, that kind of flew under the radar for many, is that Meta has officially opened the Ray-Ban Display to third-party developers. You can either use the Device Access Toolkit SDK, available for iOS and Android, to add targeted interfaces to an existing native mobile app or develop a dedicated new app or, alternatively, you can develop a WebApp that, with enough work, can also look and behave great on the glasses. People have already figured out how to get YouTube videos playing on the glasses, and early community apps showcase some interesting use cases with things like aviation tools, grocery lists, transit navigation and of course games.