# I built an AI Tamagotchi before Meta could

Digest AI · Hardware & Compute · published 2026-10-31T16:05:00Z

Canonical: https://digestai.news/story/i-built-an-ai-tamagotchi-before-meta-could

## Summary

The author bought a $50 Waveshare ESP32‑S3 1.75‑inch touchscreen pendant, which Meta lists as a “Muse Gadget” kit. After plugging it into a PC and pairing it with the Muse phone app, the device initially treated speech as transcription, responded slowly, and only showed a few words on screen.

The changes took minutes, but the author notes no coding experience and raises security concerns after a reported address leak.

The hack shows the Muse platform can be extended far beyond its limited out‑of‑the‑box features, yet the author wonders whether the official Muse Charm will be as freely programmable and if non‑technical users would prefer a development kit over a dedicated pendant.

## Key points

- The author bought a $50 Waveshare ESP32‑S3 1.75‑inch touchscreen pendant as a DIY Muse Gadget.
- Claude was used to add conversation history, ElevenLabs voice, camera control, avatars and a Tamagotchi minigame in minutes.
- Meta’s Muse Charm currently offers only a single avatar, limited smart‑home discovery, and no out‑of‑the‑box voice output.

## Why it matters

It shows Meta's Muse ecosystem can be customized with external LLMs, highlighting both the potential for bespoke AI hardware and the security and usability challenges for everyday consumers.

## Sources

1. [I built an AI Tamagotchi before Meta could](https://theverge.com/gadgets/1013375/muse-charm-gadgets-preview-waveshare-esp32-claude-vibe-code) (The Verge AI, 2026-10-31)

Part of the developing story: [Meta Muse AI Launch Displaces ChatGPT](https://digestai.news/thread/meta-s-muse-ai-agent-hits-10-9-million-downloads-chatgpt-drops-25) (4 stories)

## Cite

Digest AI, "I built an AI Tamagotchi before Meta could", 31 October 2026, https://digestai.news/story/i-built-an-ai-tamagotchi-before-meta-could

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