What do I make for my hardware project?

I've built a new found interest in embedded systems / hardware devices after we did a hardware workshop for our AI semester project. Now, we are to create a hardware product for our project. However, I haven't ever worked with hardware. So, I need your suggestions for the project and ideas for what hardware (such as esps, raspberry pi, motor etc) I could use for the project. For the project, I'm thinking of building something from the following: a dumb phone (including calls, connecting chatapps to that phone and a notes app), a mini ereader (pocket kindle), a sign language converter. The constraints: I have a month to complete this project and the budget is under 40 dollars. If you have something (that is not mentioned here) cool in mind, please don't hesitate to share.