Meta is finally rolling out its photorealistic avatars, which it now calls Holograms, and the Ray-Ban Display glasses get them first.

The avatars were previously known as Codec Avatars. They arrive on Ray-Ban Display in early access in the coming months, limited to the United States and to WhatsApp video calls, before reaching the upcoming VR Glasses in spring 2027.

Creation does not rely on depth sensors. Instead, wearers use Meta’s phone app and the handset’s selfie camera, following prompts that include reciting a line and laughing. Road to VR went hands-on and found the result close enough to fool a stranger, though the avatar is driven by voice alone, so the AI does much of the acting.

Users can attempt up to ten captures a day to refine the look, and a small ghost icon appears during calls to flag that the person on screen is an avatar.

On VR Glasses, which pack eye and face tracking through downward-facing sensors, the experience changes again. Road to VR said the feature leans more toward smartphone callers than to Display users, given how small that device’s single see-through display is.

Source: Road to VR