With the vast volume of available music, users often face "decision fatigue" when discovering new songs. Current recommendation systems like Spotify playlists can feel impersonal and algorithmically driven, lacking user control. A swipe-based music discovery app solves this issue by providing a fun, user-friendly experience where users make active choices.
To achieve this, we need an embedded system solution that leverages a Raspberry Pi for hosting the web app, ensuring low-cost, efficient local hosting with manageable energy consumption and limited deployment requirements.
Developing a swipe-based music discovery app, hosted on a Raspberry Pi 3, addresses several needs:
Cost Efficiency: Hosting the app on a Raspberry Pi saves on server costs, making this an affordable, scalable solution for individual users or small communities.
Embedded System Focus: The Raspberry Pi’s resource-constrained environment provides a great challenge for optimizing web server performance, API integration, and user interaction on low-power devices.
Scalable Software-Defined Solution: This design could later scale beyond the Pi or integrate with IoT-based music systems for smart homes.
The goal is to create a lightweight, interactive web app that allows users to swipe through song recommendations and instantly listen to 30-second previews. The technical effort involves optimizing network performance, API integration, and resource management on a constrained hardware platform.
Primary Objective:
Develop an efficient system where users can discover and interact with music recommendations without relying on external web hosting services.
Implement Spotify API integration for fetching song snippets dynamically.
Who:
Target users are music enthusiasts who want more personalized and interactive discovery experiences.
The project is led by an engineering student or team with knowledge of web development, and API integration.
Where:
Hosted locally on a Raspberry Pi 3, making it portable and suitable for small-scale personal or classroom demos.
Deployment can extend to home networks or educational environments.
Phase 1: Design and Planning (1-2 weeks)
Define system architecture (front-end, back-end, APIs, data storage).
Select necessary software tools and libraries.
Phase 2: Software Development (2-4 weeks)
Set up a web server on the Raspberry Pi (Node.js or Flask).
Develop the front-end swipe interface using React or HTML/CSS.
Integrate the Spotify API for fetching song previews.
Store basic user interaction data (e.g., liked songs, history).
Phase 3: Optimization (1-2 weeks)
Optimize resource usage (RAM, CPU) on the Raspberry Pi.
Optimize API calls to reduce latency.
Phase 4: Testing and Deployment (1 week)
Test the system on the Raspberry Pi for stability and performance.
Debug issues related to API access, song playback, and user interactions.
Phase 5: Maintenance and Scalability
Plan for additional features, such as multi-user support or integration with other streaming services.
A fully functional web app hosted on the Raspberry Pi 3, allowing users to swipe and listen to music recommendations via Spotify.
Optimized back-end services, with efficient API usage and low power consumption.
A scalable proof-of-concept that could be extended to commercial hosting or embedded music devices.
Software (Spotify API, open-source libraries): Free
Development: roughly $1,000
Hosting (includes raspberry pi) : $35
Total Estimated Cost: $1,035