Meta unveiled Hologram at Meta Connect 2026 on 23 September, introducing a new way for Meta Ray-Ban Display users to appear on WhatsApp video calls without holding a phone camera in front of their face.
The feature creates what Meta calls a photorealistic digital version of the wearer. Instead of watching the user's face during the call, the Hologram model uses their voice to infer facial expressions based on what they are saying and how they are saying it.
Hologram will begin rolling out in Early Access on WhatsApp to Meta Ray-Ban Display users in the US later this autumn. Meta has not announced availability elsewhere.
How Meta Hologram Uses Your Voice
Meta says the Ray-Ban Display version of Hologram is driven entirely by the wearer's voice.
That means the face seen by the other caller is generated rather than captured through a conventional live selfie-camera feed. The system uses the speaker's audio to determine how their digital face should appear while they talk.
Users first complete a short self-capture using the Meta AI app on a smartphone.
UploadVR, which tested Hologram at Meta Connect 2026, reports that the setup asks users to turn their head in several directions and respond to open-ended questions while speaking expressively. The publication says the process captures the appearance of the person's facial expressions to condition the model and incorporates details including their clothing and background.
After several minutes of server-side processing, UploadVR says the Hologram is ready for calls.
UploadVR also reports that the Ray-Ban Display implementation uses a real-time generative AI diffusion model running on Meta's servers. The system takes the wearer's microphone audio as input and produces a generated 2D video stream seen by the other caller.
Why Hologram Matters for Smart Glasses
Meta Ray-Ban Display already supports WhatsApp video calling, but its existing live-video feature is designed to show the other person what the glasses wearer is seeing.
Hologram provides another option when the wearer wants the person on the other end to see them instead.
Meta gives cooking as one example. A wearer could continue chopping vegetables rather than holding or positioning a phone in front of their face while the caller sees their Hologram.
There is an important distinction, however. The expression shown on screen is not a live recording of the wearer's actual face. It is the model's generated interpretation based on the person's voice.
Meta did not publish an accuracy metric in its 23 September announcement showing how closely those generated expressions correspond to the wearer's actual facial movements at any given moment.
UK Buyers Get the Glasses Before Hologram
Meta Ray-Ban Display went on sale in the UK on 23 September and is priced at £749.
Hologram, however, is initially scheduled for Early Access on WhatsApp for Meta Ray-Ban Display users in the US. Meta has not announced a UK release date for the feature.
British customers can therefore buy the glasses now, subject to availability, but Hologram is not currently confirmed to launch in the UK.
A more immersive version of Hologram is also coming to Meta VR Glasses, which Meta says will go on sale in spring 2027.
On those glasses, Meta says a caller's photorealistic digital representation can appear in front of the wearer, while spatial audio places the caller's voice at the Hologram's apparent position.
UploadVR reports that the VR implementation expands the experience from the shoulders-up presentation used on Ray-Ban Display to a full-body Hologram.
Meta says Hologram calling on Meta VR Glasses will work with calling apps including WhatsApp and Zoom. People joining from a phone or computer will see the Hologram on their conventional screen.
Meta's Lifelike Avatar Research Reaches Consumer Products
Hologram arrives after years of Meta research into realistic digital representations of people.
Facebook discussed its lifelike Codec Avatars research at F8 in 2019, describing technology aimed at reproducing gestures, facial expressions and tone of voice for more realistic communication in virtual reality.
The launch version of Hologram is technically different from a fully volumetric Codec Avatar. UploadVR reports that the initial Meta VR Glasses implementation is instead a generated stereoscopic 3D video stream.
With Hologram, Meta is moving photorealistic digital representations from long-running research towards consumer products.
The Ray-Ban Display version is scheduled to arrive first through WhatsApp Early Access in the US later this autumn. Meta VR Glasses are then scheduled to bring a full-body version of Hologram to the company's new VR hardware when the device launches in spring 2027.
For Meta Ray-Ban Display users, the concept is simpler. Rather than showing a conventional live image of the caller's face, Hologram uses their voice to generate expressions on a photorealistic digital version of them.
