Maker Builds AI Tamagotchi Pendant Before Meta's Muse Charm

Ahead of the holiday season, a tech journalist tested whether Meta's forthcoming Muse Charm AI pendant can be replicated with a low-cost hackable gadget by modifying a $50 Waveshare ESP32-S3 1.75C touchscreen computer pendant from China. The device is part of Meta's recognized Muse Gadget ecosystem, which allows third-party hardware to connect to Muse's AI cloud through open-source code and developer tokens. The DIY pendant lacks the cameras, cellular radio and consumer polish expected of Meta's product, but after modification it supports push-to-talk AI interaction, animated avatars, a working pocket watch face, a remote phone-camera viewfinder and possible smart-home control. The original setup worked quickly by plugging the device into a PC, directing Claude Code to Meta's GitHub instructions and pairing it with the Muse phone app. However, the stock experience was limited: Muse sometimes interpreted inputs as audio files rather than commands, responses were slow, text appeared only briefly and there was no audible reply. The software also shipped with one avatar, no automatic smart-home device discovery and an underdeveloped camera function, despite a Meta sample app showing live video streaming. AI-assisted coding filled most gaps. Claude Code added a scrollable conversation history, an ElevenLabs voice for spoken answers, a remote shutter button for a phone camera, a corrected front-camera preview, a Bluetooth camera preview, multiple avatars and a Tamagotchi-style pet game with hunger, boredom, dirt, treats, play, sleep and bathing states. Further revisions made push-to-talk transmit only audio longer than one second, built a three-hand watch face and installed a video player for clips of Mark Zuckerberg introducing the Muse Charm. The writer has no coding experience and noted the resulting software may be unstable. Privacy concerns also remain: after reports that Muse exposed one reviewer's home address, the device was kept on guest Wi-Fi. The project suggests dedicated AI hardware is most compelling when it can be extensively reprogrammed beyond what a phone offers, rather than when it merely mirrors a phone assistant. It also leaves open whether the consumer Muse Charm will provide the same openness and hackability that made the $50 development pendant valuable.