ARPIT SHARMA

Brain Itch AURA

AURA

One calm screen that answers the day before you ask.

What It Is
A home dashboard on a Raspberry Pi 5
Role
Designer and builder
Team
Solo
Status
Running at home, every day
Built With
Python and FastAPI on Debian, Home Assistant, Pi-hole, Open-Meteo weather and IBJA price data
AURA home screen: the time and date, a location, status chips for weather, groceries, ad blocking and internet speed, then cards for weather, commute, today’s meals, groceries with a QR code, before-you-go tips, calendar, Ask AURA and smart home.
The Home screen. Everything a household checks before the day starts, readable from across the room.

00 At a Glance

The Itch
The answers to “what’s today?” lived in too many apps, and on too many phones.
The Idea
One shared screen at home that answers the day’s questions at a glance, without anyone unlocking a phone.
What It Does
Weather, commute, meals, groceries, festivals, gold prices and network health, plus a “Hey Aura” voice.

01 The Itch

The day’s answers were scattered.

Will it rain? Is the road clear? What’s for dinner? Do we need bananas? Is today a festival?

Each question had its own app, and often its own phone. A shared home needs one place everyone can glance at, not five apps only one person can open.

So I designed AURA as a calm screen for the home: it sits on a Raspberry Pi, runs all day, and turns many small checks into one look.

The Rule I Designed AroundIf you have to tap, it’s already too slow.

02 A Day with AURA

From the first chai to lights out.

  1. “Should I leave now?”

    The Commute card watches the drive from home to office inside a set window, 8 to 11 AM on workdays. It shows the best time to leave from live traffic, then goes quiet once the window is over.

  2. Small nudges, not forecasts

    AURA turns the weather into advice: Good conditions to cycle, Dress light, or a warning when UV or air quality is bad.

  3. Nobody asks “what’s for dinner?”

    Today’s breakfast, lunch and dinner come from the meal plan, with a reminder for tonight’s prep, like soaking sprouts for tomorrow.

  4. One list for the whole family

    The grocery list shows what’s left to buy. Anyone can scan the QR code and edit the list from their own phone.

  5. Every festival, in its own script

    The calendar shows upcoming festivals and today’s lunar day, the tithi, written in Devanagari the way the family reads it.

  6. Gold and silver, at a glance

    The Price Tracker checks the daily IBJA benchmark and shows 24K to 14K gold and silver, with the change since yesterday.

  7. A quieter internet

    Ad blocking runs for every device at home, and a chip shows the current internet speed when Wi-Fi feels slow.

  8. “Hey Aura”

    Ask out loud about the weather, whether it will rain before you leave, or your commute.

03 Use Cases

Six small moments it makes easier.

Each one used to mean opening an app, asking someone, or guessing. Now it’s a glance.

01

The 8:40 Dash

The Moment
Rohan has a 9:30 meeting across the city.
What AURA Shows
Commute shows heavy traffic building on the usual route, and the best time to leave is now, not after breakfast.
The Result
He leaves ten minutes early and walks in on time, without opening a single map.

02

The Forgotten Prep

The Moment
It’s 9 PM and tomorrow’s breakfast needs soaked sprouts.
What AURA Shows
The meal card’s Tonight line flashes a reminder: check that 1.5 cups of sprouts are ready.
The Result
The prep is done before bed, and breakfast happens on time.

03

The Grocery Run

The Moment
Two people are about to shop, each with half a list in their head.
What AURA Shows
Groceries shows 62 items with quantities. Either of them scans the QR code and ticks items off from their phone.
The Result
One shared list, no double-buying, nothing forgotten.

04

The Festival Week

The Moment
Guests are coming for Chhath Puja and nobody is sure of the dates.
What AURA Shows
The calendar shows the festival, the next holidays, and today’s tithi in Devanagari.
The Result
Plans are made around the right day, the way the family is used to reading it.

05

The Gold Question

The Moment
A parent wants to buy gold for a wedding but doesn’t trust random rate apps.
What AURA Shows
Price Tracker shows today’s IBJA rate for 24K down to 14K, and how much it moved since yesterday.
The Result
They buy on a day the price dipped, with a benchmark they trust.

06

The Slow Wi-Fi Evening

The Moment
A video call keeps freezing and someone blames the router.
What AURA Shows
The Internet chip shows the live speed and delay, and System shows the Pi and ad blocking are healthy.
The Result
The cause is clear in a glance, so no one restarts the router for nothing.

04 Five Rooms

One home, five views.

Home shows a bit of everything. The other four tabs go deeper into one part of the day.

Daily planning tab: calendar with Chhath Puja, Guru Nanak Jayanti and today’s tithi; today’s meals; the grocery list; commute; and before-you-go tips.
Daily Planning · calendar, meals, groceries, commute and tips together.
Price Tracker tab: 24K gold per 10 g with 22K to 14K rates and silver per kg, each with the change since yesterday.
Price Tracker · IBJA gold and silver rates, checked daily at noon.
Smart home tab: a smart home card waiting for devices, Ask AURA ready, and the weather with a five-day forecast.
Smart Home · Home Assistant, voice and weather.
System tab: Raspberry Pi health with CPU temperature, memory, storage and network, plus network protection running.
System · the Pi’s health and network protection.

05 Design Choices

Look once, know your day.

Status first

A row of chips up top answers the four most common questions: weather, groceries, ad blocking and internet speed.

Readable from the sofa

Big time, large numbers and dark glass cards over a quiet mountain backdrop, so it reads from across the room.

Honest states

It says Commute window over, today’s update hasn’t arrived or No devices yet instead of showing stale or empty data.

Made for this home

Indian festivals, the tithi in Devanagari, rupee prices per karat and home-cooked meal plans.

Local first

Everything runs on the Pi at home. Weather and price data come from open sources, with credit shown on the card.

Tabs, not menus

Five tabs cover the whole day, and every card has one arrow to open the full view.

06 How It’s Built

A small computer doing a big job.

AURA runs on a Raspberry Pi 5 that never switches off.

A Python and FastAPI app serves the dashboard. Home Assistant connects smart-home devices, Pi-hole handles ad blocking for the whole network, Open-Meteo provides the weather, and the IBJA benchmark provides gold and silver rates.

07 What’s Next

Still growing, one itch at a time.

Smart-home devices. Home Assistant is connected and ready for lights and switches.

A smarter voice. “Hey Aura” already answers weather and commute questions, and it will learn more over time.