Author Builds $50 AI Tamagotchi on ESP32-S3 Ahead of Meta's Muse Charm
Updated
Updated · The Verge · Oct 31
Author Builds $50 AI Tamagotchi on ESP32-S3 Ahead of Meta's Muse Charm
1 articles · Updated · The Verge · Oct 31
Summary
$50 bought a Waveshare ESP32-S3 pendant that the author turned into an AI Tamagotchi using Meta's Muse tools and Claude-generated code, before Meta ships its own Muse Charm.
Claude filled key gaps in Meta's baseline software by adding spoken replies, swipeable chat history, extra avatars, a Tamagotchi-style care game, a working watch face, and camera controls with live preview.
Meta's stock setup initially misread voice input, showed only partial text, lacked useful smart-home discovery, and still suffers uneven response times tied to Meta's servers.
The build used an officially suggested Meta 'Muse Gadget' devkit, but the author says the pendant is less useful than a phone without custom coding and kept it on guest Wi-Fi over privacy concerns.
The experiment suggests Muse's appeal may depend less on the AI itself than on how freely programmable Meta's eventual hardware is when the Muse Charm launches.