I attended Meta’s Connect event in late September, where Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the Muse Charm — a pendant‑style gadget housing Meta’s charming Muse AI agent. The device is slated to launch as early as December.
Although many dubbed it an ‘AI Tamagotchi,’ it struck me as a strap‑less Apple Watch. Could the Muse Charm evolve into a wrist‑worn device as well as a pendant? Might this be Meta’s stealth entry into wrist wearables? I’m still pondering, especially since smartwatches are rapidly becoming AI assistants themselves.
Rumors of a Meta smartwatch have circulated for years. Connect showcased numerous smart glasses and a glasses‑style VR headset arriving next year, yet wrist wearables were conspicuously absent.
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Meta already offers a wrist wearable — the neural band paired with the Ray‑Ban Display glasses — but it saw no hardware refresh this year, which was unexpected. The band employs electromyography (EMG) to detect skin‑contact electrical signals for gesture navigation of the heads‑up display. Meta has ambitious plans for EMG, including experiments in a smart‑car dashboard prototype.
As early as last year, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth hinted that a display or watch‑style evolution of the neural band might be next. Meta also forged a partnership with Garmin to integrate fitness tracking into its smart glasses.
AI Agents Become Meta’s Top Priority
The Muse Charm adds another piece to the puzzle. Muse AI is now Meta’s foremost focus, evident from its broad rollout on desktops and phones and plans to embed the agentic AI across all smart glasses and future VR glasses. Where else could Muse thrive? The Charm.
The Charm also hints at a watch form factor. It runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset — already powering Samsung’s newest smartwatches. Qualcomm says the Wear Elite is tuned for AI‑ready wearables from watches to pendants to glasses, so adding a wrist strap and a watch OS to the Charm would be straightforward.
Multiple Reasons for a Meta Smartwatch
A smartwatch would serve Meta on several fronts. The company aims to expand its lifestyle wearable lineup, and a watch provides another touchpoint beyond eyewear. Fitness and health data would feed Muse and the smart glasses. Watches are also becoming central to the glasses ecosystem — Google’s upcoming glasses will pair with Wear OS watches, and Apple’s rumored glasses will likely integrate with the Apple Watch.
Meta also needs to make its neural band more practical. The first‑gen band is intriguing conceptually, yet it’s an extra device to charge. If it doesn’t evolve into a watch or fitness tracker, its appeal is limited. Currently it only controls Meta’s display glasses, but it’s likely Meta will explore broader compatibility across its glasses and VR products.
Google and Apple are already turning smartwatches into AI companions. Gemini runs on Wear OS watches, and Apple will add memory‑assist audio intelligence to its new watches this fall. Both platforms can leverage Gemini and the updated Siri, respectively.
Meta now has Muse and will launch the Charm by year‑end. Could a watch follow? Meta declined to comment, but the Charm feels like a live beta test. Alternatively, it might signal a modular approach that works as both pendant and wrist device without committing to either.
One thing is certain: Meta wants its endearing Muse mascot to accompany users constantly, even without glasses. The Charm appears to be that experiment.
