Meta Ray-Ban Display update adds over 10 new features, including handwriting

Very handy changes are here for Meta's AR glasses

(Credit: Meta)

• 😎 Meta has added over 10 new features to the Meta Ray-Ban Display with a new update

• ✍️ The v125 update adds features such as ‘neural handwriting’, alongside optimized navigation and setting timers with voice commands

• 🎥 You can also record your display and POV video simultaneously, and take WhatsApp group video calls with the glasses

• 📱 Developers can also take advantage of a new app builder in preview, and a toolkit for extending iOS and Android apps to the glasses’ displays

Meta has announced a bumper firmware update for the Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses, adding a bevvy of new features.

As per an X post from Oscar Falmer from Meta’s Wearable Developer Relations team, the v125 update has been rolling out since last week and has added some exciting new features to the glasses.

These include ‘neural handwriting’, where you can write with your finger on any surface, such as your palm, your leg or your desk, and the glasses’ accompanying neural band turns your handwriting into a message.

There is also an update to the maps and navigation features on the glasses, with walking directions now available throughout the entire US and in international cities such as London, Paris, and Rome.

Alongside this, search results are now richer, and you get more detailed place cards. Work and home addresses can be saved for quick access, and you can also use voice commands for navigation. Voice commands can also now be used to set timers, with a real-time countdown on the display.

You can now record your display and POV video at the same time, plus this new update allows you to use WhatsApp group video calls on the Meta Ray-Ban Displays. On the point of calls, there are now real-time captions displayed on the in-lens display during phone calls, with processing happening on-device for maximum privacy.

Meta’s new update also adds a new home view for the glasses that brings up recent Meta AI conversations and quick shortcuts alongside an AI history so you can go back into conversations with full context.

Navigating Instagram with the Meta Ray-Ban Displays is also more optimal, with a new top navigation bar to make it easier to swipe between Reels and DMs. Meta has also introduced a widget to view Facebook birthdays and make it easy to send birthday messages to contacts with one tap via Messenger.

Developers can now build and run their own apps optimized for the glasses in a preview that’s available, plus have access to a toolkit for extending iOS and Android apps onto the displays. Both are in preview at the moment, but could be very clever for future updates to the glasses.

Up next: ROG Real R1 glasses pre-order date revealed – and we don’t have long to wait

Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.