Medici streams a curated selection of digital art to subscribers, enabling artists to showcase and monetize their creations.
As a consumer, you get to enjoy your own rotating digital art gallery at home.
My role
I was hired as a contractor, to develop a Raspberry Pi app to stream curated digital art pieces for screens being shipped to customers.
I designed and delivered the entire app, starting from a draft prototype built on Electron provided by the client. To improve performance on the Raspberry Pi and better support the app’s features, I chose Tauri for the final build, using Rust for the underlying functionality.
I completed the project within a tight deadline, enabling the client to ship the first screens to customers 10 days later.
Technology
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Fully automated build and release workflow uses cross-compilation for ARM64 inside a GitHub Action. A custom updater passively checks for updates and installs new versions of the app on customer screens.
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Designed to work with a simple control knob, the entire user experience and navigation operate using left/right/enter keys. Navigation was adapted accordingly, and virtual keyboards were built to be compatible with the control knob.
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Switch between portrait and landscape modes was a challenge, as the screens lack built-in orientation sensors. This behaviour is emulated programmatically.
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Rust is used for core app features like WiFi scanning and connectivity, and background data syncing. The app works offline, leveraging secure local storage.
