Build Your Own Muse Pendant on a $50 Board

You can build a small pendant that talks to your Muse on a touchscreen board costing about $50, using Meta's open Muse Gadget code for builders, and pair it with the Muse phone app.

What it does

The board is a round 1.75-inch touchscreen pendant, and Meta itself points builders to it as a starting point for a Muse Gadget. Once the code is loaded and the pendant paired with your phone, you hold a button, speak, and Muse answers on screen. The starter version is plain, but it can be extended piece by piece. A swipeable history page lets you read back through a chat. A spoken voice can be added so replies are read aloud. It can also show a pocket watch face, act as a live viewfinder and remote shutter for your phone camera, and run a pet game with feeding, play, sleep, and bathing needs. None of this needs you to write code yourself: a coding assistant can make the changes you describe in plain words while you test each one.

How to use it

1. Order the board, a Waveshare ESP32-S3 1.75C, and plug it into a computer.
2. Open Meta's Muse Gadget code and follow its setup, or ask a coding assistant to load the code for you.
3. Pair the pendant with the Muse app on your phone.
4. Hold the talk button, ask a short question, and check the reply on screen. Keep each clip longer than a quick tap, or the device may send near-empty audio.
5. Add one extra at a time, such as the history page or a voice, and test each before adding the next.
6. Connect the finished pendant to guest Wi-Fi, not your main network.

What you need

• The touchscreen board, about $50
• A computer for the first setup
• A Muse account and the Muse phone app
• Wi-Fi for the pendant
• A free afternoon or a weekend

What to watch for

• Fresh out of setup, replies can be slow, the screen shows a few words at a time, and nothing speaks aloud until a voice is added.
• Some lag comes from the servers, and no change to the board fixes that.
• The pendant has no camera or cellular radio, so it is a builder project, not the retail charm Meta plans to sell.
• If a coding assistant wrote the code and you cannot read it, treat the device like a toy: keep it on guest Wi-Fi, away from your email, bank, and main network.