Image Courtesy: Meta
Meta is taking video calls beyond conventional camera feeds with a new hologram feature that will allow users of its smart glasses to appear as photorealistic digital versions of themselves during WhatsApp calls. The feature was announced at Meta Connect 2026 and is expected to enter Early Access for users in the US later this fall.
The feature is designed to solve one of the biggest limitations of making video calls through glasses. Instead of showing the user’s face, the glasses normally transmit a view of whatever the wearer is looking at. Meta’s new Hologram system creates a digital representation of the caller that can appear to the person on the other end of the call.
On the $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, users first create their digital likeness through a short self-capture process in the Meta AI app. Meta then generates a photorealistic version of the user’s face. During a call, the avatar is controlled by the person’s voice, with artificial intelligence estimating facial expressions based on speech and vocal delivery.
The system uses Meta’s new Muse Realtime Avatar model to generate those expressions. To distinguish hologram calls from conventional video feeds, Meta will also place a transparent watermark over the digital avatar.
Meta is taking the concept considerably further with its newly announced VR Glasses, priced at $1,299.99. These glasses use inward-facing cameras and sensors to track the wearer’s expressions and reactions, allowing them to generate a full-body holographic avatar.
The experience is designed to make remote conversations feel more spatial. A person wearing the VR Glasses can see another participant’s life-size hologram positioned within the surrounding room, while spatial audio makes the participant’s voice appear to originate from the hologram’s location. Calls will support services including WhatsApp and Zoom.
There are still technical limitations. The holograms currently provide a frontal representation rather than a fully three-dimensional reconstruction that can be viewed from every direction.
Meta’s VR Glasses are scheduled to arrive in spring 2027, while owners of the Ray-Ban Display will get access to the WhatsApp hologram feature sooner.
