# DIY FRIEND AI Pendant Hardware and Software Stack

> Bill of materials and architecture to build an open-source AI necklace

A DIY recipe for building the FRIEND wearable AI pendant created at the Mistral x Cerebral Valley hackathon. It combines roughly $20 in off-the-shelf micro-hardware with a low-code mobile app interface. The setup captures audio, transcribes conversations, and generates proactive feedback and summaries using cloud AI APIs.

## How it works

Hardware: Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 Sense board (Bluetooth LE, onboard IMU and PDM mic); battery from Amazon (a.co/d/2UbB7Sz). Software: two Flutter apps built in FlutterFlow so you can modify them without code; OpenAI for chat and summaries; Whisper for audio transcription (Deepgram to be added). Author says he'll publish how to build it.

## What it is for

- Assemble an open-source wearable AI recording pendant for around $20
- Stream low-power Bluetooth audio to a mobile device for continuous transcription
- Customize an AI companion companion app using low-code FlutterFlow interfaces

## Key points

- Hardware core built on Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 Sense with onboard PDM mic and BLE
- All-day continuous operation powered by a small lithium polymer battery
- Mobile frontend built in FlutterFlow for easy no-code app modification
- Audio transcription pipeline using OpenAI Whisper with planned Deepgram support
- Conversational analysis and daily summaries powered by OpenAI models

## Pricing

Open source. Approx. $20 for hardware parts; software uses pay-as-you-go AI API keys

## Details

- Type: Tip
- Category: [AI](https://xiry.app/topics/ai.md)
- Open source: yes
- Platforms: iOS, Android, other
- For: Hardware hackers, AI builders, and developers interested in wearable computing
- Alternative to: Humane AI Pin, Rewind Pendant, Limitless Pendant, Rabbit r1
- Tags: wearables, diy hardware, transcription, flutterflow, whisper, esp32

## Why it was saved

- [@kodjima33, 24 March 2024](https://x.com/kodjima33/status/1772011777066442819): Concrete DIY recipe: ~$20 of parts plus a no-code app stack.

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Updated 11 October 2026. Page: https://xiry.app/resources/diy-friend-ai-pendant-hardware-and-software-stack

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