Meta Ray-Ban Display remains US-exclusive for now

The Meta Ray-Ban Display was launched in the USA in September 2025. At the time, Meta announced that it would also bring the product to the UK, France, Italy, and Canada in early 2026.

These plans are now on hold. Meta justifies the move with severely limited unit numbers and simultaneously high demand, which has already extended the US waiting lists well into 2026. The company initially wants to focus on serving demand in the USA, while plans for an international market launch are being re-evaluated.

The Meta Ray-Ban Display are Meta's first smart glasses with an integrated screen. A special waveguide display, manufactured by the German specialty glass manufacturer Schott, is used. Its production is considered particularly demanding and is likely responsible for the supply shortage. The display shows content discreetly in the upper right field of vision and is monocular, meaning it is only visible to the right eye.

New functions: Teleprompter and finger writing

For US users of the Meta Ray-Ban Display, Meta has announced two new functions that will roll out starting this week. The first is a teleprompter that works with customizable text cards and can be controlled via the included Meta Neural Band. The content is transferred from the smartphone and can come from a note app, Google Docs, or Meta AI. A teleprompter function is not new for smart glasses and is among the standard functions of the Even Realities G1 and its successor, among others.

The second new feature is unique so far and allows users to write messages in WhatsApp and Messenger by tracing letters on a fixed surface with their finger. This could be a table or their own leg. This way, messages can be written without having to look at the smartphone or keyboard. This is made possible by Meta's neural wristband, which identifies microgestures through the finest muscle signals and interprets them as computer commands or, in this case, letters. Currently, only English is supported, and those who want to try the function must register for an early access program.

Meta has also been working on pedestrian map navigation, which is now available in Denver, Las Vegas, Portland, and Salt Lake City, in addition to the previous 28 US cities. Support for more cities is expected soon.

Meta opens neural wristband for other devices

Currently, the wristband can only be used to control the Meta Ray-Ban Display. However, Meta has indicated that it will open the technology to other devices in the future and expand it into a standalone input platform.

Meta is presenting a first such experiment at CES. For this, the company collaborated with Garmin and made the Meta Neural Band compatible with Garmin's "Unified Cabin" platform for vehicle infotainment. In the demo, passengers can play games and navigate the user interface by selecting apps with scroll gestures and launching them with a pinch gesture.

Meta is also working on use cases for controlling home electronics and is looking for developers and companies interested in integration. A consumer product comparable to the Meta Neural Band has so far only been offered by the startup Mudra. However, Mudra Link still lacks technical maturity.

(wpl)