Meta Unveils Muse Charm Keychain AI and $1,299 VR Glasses

Meta surprised Meta Connect with the Muse Charm pocket AI gadget and slimmer $1,299 VR Glasses as it pushes its Muse agent beyond the smartphone.

At the annual Meta Connect conference in Menlo Park on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the Muse Charm, a handheld gadget roughly the size of an Apple AirPods case that gives users voice access to Meta's Muse AI personal agent without unlocking a phone or opening an app. The device features a roughly 2-inch touchscreen, built-in 5G connectivity, and real-time voice and avatar interaction. "We've packed a lot of technology with this little guy," Zuckerberg said, describing the Charm as the fastest way to talk to Muse for people not wearing Meta's glasses. Meta says the device will be ready to ship in time for the holidays in December, though it did not announce a price.

The reveal stands out because Meta is pitching a dedicated physical device for an AI agent that already lives in apps — Muse is accessible through a mobile app, WhatsApp, the web and macOS, and is coming to Meta's smart glasses in the months ahead. According to MobiDevices, the prototype was internally nicknamed Clawmagochi, a nod to Tamagotchi, with the device designed by Meta's design center and Superintelligence Labs with former Apple designers Alan Day and Billy Sorrentino involved. Man of Many notes Charm is another access point for an existing agent rather than a new ecosystem, which distinguishes it from failed standalone AI hardware like Humane's AI Pin and Rabbit's R1.

According to MobiDevices, the Muse Charm runs a customizable Muse character whose appearance, clothing and voice can be changed, and a conversation starts by touching a fingerprint scanner on the case. It carries front and back cameras that let Muse analyze surrounding objects, plus microphones, a speaker, media playback and USB-C charging, though it does not support standard voice or video calls. Two Charm devices can detect each other nearby and interact if their owners enable the feature. Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth calls the device an experimental "version 0," with future development depending on how people actually use it.

Alongside the Charm, Zuckerberg revealed the Meta VR Glasses, a smaller and slimmer device than the older Quest-branded headsets and Meta's first new VR hardware since the $299 Quest 3S in 2024. The glasses cost $1,299 when they go on sale in spring 2027 and are powered by an external puck housing a Qualcomm processor and battery, which acts as a mini-computer and keeps the glasses light. They display better visuals than older Quest headsets and include sensors tracking eyes and hand movements, reducing the need for controllers. Zuckerberg said the device delivers "the same magical feeling of presence and immersion" in a form factor that is a pair of glasses for the first time.

According to Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi, Muse hit 2.8 million downloads in its first 12 days across the US and Canada App Stores, surpassing ChatGPT's early adoption, and Meta stock rallied roughly 20% over two weeks as Muse mania took hold. Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney said the announcements signal Meta placing agentic AI and wearable computing at the core of its next computing platform, adding "Muse over Metaverse is a good thing for Meta investors."

Meta expects the Muse Charm to ship in December for the holidays, with pricing still unannounced. According to The News International, Meta is considering a cost level similar to that of smartwatches, and mobile network connectivity terms are still being worked out. Privacy questions loom too: NBC News reports Zuckerberg acknowledged some people call the smart glasses line "pervert glasses" and plans a counteroffensive highlighting how Meta deters secret recordings. Meanwhile the $1,299 VR Glasses arrive in spring 2027, and camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses start at $349 on October 13, giving consumers several ways into the Muse ecosystem beyond the smartphone.