AI talismans have become a bit of a cliché in the tech world. Devices like Friend were, for many consumers, just an eye-rolling exercise in the idea of physical AI.
But that didn’t stop Meta from entering the space with its own AI wearable called Muse Charm. It is designed to give consumers another way to connect with Muse, the recently launched and already popular personal AI agent.
The device, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed in an “one more” moment during the company’s annual Connect event, isn’t ready to ship yet. Zuckerberg said his team needed to “finalize the layout of the components” and promised that the device “will be ready to ship in time for the December holidays.”
The Muse Agent is currently embodied as a cute digital avatar known internally as Jolie, and lives inside a palm-sized totem that users can carry in their pocket or attach to their keychain. The device comes with a small screen that displays an avatar representing the agent. The user can talk to the device, and the device can supposedly perform tasks on the user’s behalf.
“We’ve packed the entire Muse experience, including real-time audio and the entire stack of avatars, into something that fits on your keychain and is ready to talk to you at any time,” Zuckerberg said in his Wednesday keynote. “Simply tap the fingerprint sensor in the corner to start a call without unlocking your phone or opening an app.”
Zuckerberg added: “If you’re not wearing glasses, this will be the quickest way to talk to your muse and show you what’s going on around you.”
As befits what it offers, the gadget has a Tamagotchi-like feel, a lightweight and quirky device designed to keep users connected to Meta’s software. This also feels like a relatively low-risk way for the social media giant to experiment with AI wearables, as well as another way to distribute its AI agents to the masses.
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