Muse, Meta’s AI agent, is now coming to smart glasses, and the company has rolled out a host of new features alongside the announcement. The update came just a couple of weeks after Muse first launched.
Users will be able to activate Muse from their glasses by saying its name. The agent can handle tasks like guiding a workout, logging meals, or helping them shop for products they’re looking at. The feature is arriving on the new glasses Meta unveiled at Meta Connect, though the company framed it as still “working on” the integration rather than a finished product.
What’s New on the Glasses
Muse isn’t the only thing coming to Meta’s smart glasses. The company is adding several accessibility features, including a Hearing Enhancement feature that Meta says is “FDA-cleared software for adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.” It will be available later this year with a Meta One subscription or as a $149 add-on for compatible glasses.
Meta AI will also offer “more context-rich answers” when users ask the glasses what they’re looking at. That could help blind and low-vision users interpret their surroundings better. A new audio customization feature lets users shift their smart glasses’ volume between their left and right ears, including sending all audio to one side.
Audio and Photo Features
The company is rolling out Dolby Atmos Capture, which captures video with 360-degree spatial audio. A separate feature called Dynamic Photo takes several frames whenever a picture is snapped with Meta’s glasses and lets Meta AI pick the optimal shot from each group.
The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses are getting a “Hologram” feature that Meta originally announced for its new VR Glasses. The company says it’s “a photorealistic digital version of your face for calls from Meta Ray-Ban Display” that “infers” your expression using your voice. The feature is rolling out in Early Access on WhatsApp to Meta Ray-Ban Display users in the US later this fall.
Navigation and More
Several new heads-up navigation features are coming to the Meta Ray-Ban Display. Starting later this month, users in the US and Canada will have an option to use their voice to ask for real-time cycling or public transit directions. The Meta Ray-Ban Display will also start using “the world in front of you rather than street signs in turn-by-turn walking directions,” like referencing a house, car, or landmark the glasses detect.
Other new features include an option for editing photos directly on the glasses’ display, a new “Explore” app for finding new apps, an improved calendar, and mirroring for phone notifications.
Schedule of Rollouts
| Feature | Timeline |
|---|---|
| Hearing Enhancement availability | Later this year |
| Dolby Atmos Capture | Now |
| Dynamic Photo | Now |
| Voice directions | Later this month (US/Canada) |
| Hologram on WhatsApp | Later this fall (US) |
| On-glass photo editing, Explore app, calendar, notifications | Coming soon |
Our Take on the Hologram
Meta is rolling out a strange new feature called Hologram. It creates a lifelike digital version of your face that guesses your expression based on your voice, and it’s being made available as an Early Access feature on WhatsApp for Meta Ray-Ban Display users in the US. According to the company, it “infers” your expression from your voice, so the glasses listen to you talking to figure out what your face looks like during a call.
That’s a genuinely strange way to communicate. It’s also a genuinely strange thing to ship. Meta is betting that people want a digital version of their face on calls, and that the glasses can figure out what it looks like by listening to them speak.
There’s no telling whether people want to see a photorealistic digital version of their face during a call. The feature arrives through Early Access on WhatsApp for Meta Ray-Ban Display users, which means the group trying it first is quite limited. Still, the simple fact that it exists is notable.
The remainder of the announcement follows a more conventional pattern. New accessibility features, audio tweaks, and navigation tools are all useful additions, but they’re not changing the category. They’re simply improving Meta’s glasses at what they already do.
The title centers on Muse on glasses, and it makes sense to do so. The agent has already established value on phones and tablets, and the glasses are a logical next home for it. Speaking its name to turn it on is a simple instruction, and the jobs it handles — exercise sessions, meals, shopping — are real demands people face daily.
But the Hologram is the odd one out. It’s a feature that exists because Meta decided to build it, not because anyone asked for it. It’s the kind of thing that will probably become a meme faster than it becomes a standard feature.
A great many new tools are being added to the glasses at present. The Muse is arriving, the Hearing Enhancement has received FDA clearance, and the navigation is becoming more intelligent. It’s not yet clear if any of these additions will prove significant, however, because what ultimately matters is whether people actually put the glasses on and keep them there. The features exist and are genuine, but the true measure of their worth will always come down to the user.
Source material: “Muse is coming to Meta smart glasses,” The Verge.
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