You probably know Meta’s Neural Band as the companion controller that lets you use one hand as input to the Meta Ray-Ban display glasses, but it may one day be sold separately and work with a host of other hardware.
Garmin, which makes a boatload of technology inside devices, showed off a concept of its next-generation vehicle-mounted systems at CES 2026 — one where its homegrown computer can drive much more than just a heads-up display and head-up display, but also integrates with dynamic lighting, ultra-wideband technology and even new inputs from voice to hand gestures.
And while this is only a concept, I got into the demomobile, which was very non-moving and just four seats in a rough frame, turned on the Meta Neural Band and was off to the races, able to spin the electronic version of the car on the main screen and even pinch to zoom in or out. It’s basic, but it’s mostly a proof base of how these different types of inputs can prove useful in the car.
It’s part of Garmin’s Unified Cabin concept, which is basically a next-generation, much smarter interior for future vehicles. The ability to use the Neural Band is part of a collaboration between Garmin and Meta that is exploring how this technology can be used.
However, the idea is that in Android Auto, instead of saying “Hey Google” or swiping with your fingers, you can use gestures without having to reach out. I sat in the passenger seat and had my hand just above my lap, able to make the right movements to control the display. It was limited, but you could also use it to swipe through the interface and interact with various input elements.
There was no steering wheel in this cabin concept, but it can even work with hands on the wheel – although I’m not sure about the safety there. And the way the Meta Neural Band works is pretty brilliant; this was my first demo with it and it’s basically able to read finger gestures and movements via electrical signals from your wrist. It’s nice and provides feedback with subtle haptics in the band.
The Unified Cabin concept also highlighted UWB’s ability, potentially in future vehicles, to know the position of a digital key – either a fob, phone or maybe even a Meta Neural Band one day – to welcome you with lighting as you approach, but also to provide more accuracy when you’re in the vehicle. If you’re with a partner who also has a digital key on their phone, it can be more accurate to set the correct seat style for whoever is actually in the driver’s seat. It is not perfect as it is today.
While this is just a concept, it’s good to see that the people behind the technology used in vehicles are looking at future inputs. The Meta Neural Band could one day be sold on its own instead of just being bundled with the display glasses – and who knows, it could be the key to a smart car you get in the future.
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