Vantage Hub

GitHub Repository

Overview

Vantage Hub is a multi-functional Windows UWP desktop application designed to serve as a personal smart hub. It combines essential daily utilities—weather forecasting, alarm management, media playback, AI-assisted chat, and digital sketching—into a unified, modern interface optimised for both touch and desktop interaction.

Problem

Users often juggle multiple standalone apps for weather, alarms, music, and productivity tools, resulting in a fragmented desktop experience. Vantage Hub consolidates these core features into a single cohesive application that provides quick access to everyday utilities, reducing cognitive load and improving workflow efficiency.

Key Features

Home Dashboard (MainPage.xaml.cs)

• Real-time clock with day/date/time and time-aware greeting (Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Night)
• Location-aware weather summary
• Forecast widget with dynamic icons and key metrics (max/min temperature, wind, humidity, precipitation)
• Touch-first widget interactions (drag + transform support via manipulation handlers)

Home dashboard with live weather, greeting, and forecast widget

Alarm & Stopwatch (MainPage.xaml.cs)

• Create, edit, and delete alarms with repeating schedules (weekday selection)
• One-time alarms supported (auto-disabled after expiry)
• Multiple alarm sounds with looping playback
• JSON-based persistence for alarms and user preferences
• Built-in stopwatch module (start / pause / reset)

Alarm management and stopwatch module

MediaHub: Music, Radio, Video (Music.xaml.cs)

• Music: local playback with shuffle/loop, playback controls, progress slider, volume control
• Radio: station browser with metadata (e.g., codec/bitrate/votes), live streaming playback
• Video: video playback with file picker support and full player controls
• Consistent “card grid” browsing UI for discovery + a focused playback view

Music: library grid + playback controls

Radio: station grid + live playback

Video: in-app player with controls

Music: extended browsing view

Radio: extended station browsing view

Video: full playback view

Doodle + AI Chat (Sketching.xaml.cs)

• InkCanvas drawing with pen + touch input, including pressure support (when using stylus)
• Pen colour + stroke size controls, eraser mode, clear canvas
• Import background images for tracing and export drawings as PNG
• Gemini-powered chatbot experience with:
  • speech-to-text dictation for message input
  • text-to-speech playback for AI responses
  • copy-to-clipboard for quick reuse
• Hover-to-reveal switch button that swaps the Doodle and Chat panels (grid column swap)

Split view: digital sketching canvas + AI chatbot

App Switcher (Keyboard + Gesture)

• Keyboard: Ctrl + Space opens the app switcher; while holding Ctrl, press Space to cycle; releasing selects (Alt+Tab style).
• Gesture: swipe up from the bottom interaction zone to open the app switcher (touch-friendly flow).

Tech Stack

• Framework: Universal Windows Platform (UWP) with C# and XAML
• UI Design: Windows.UI.Xaml with adaptive layouts (touch + desktop)
• Weather API: OpenWeatherMap (forecast endpoint)
• Radio: station browsing + streaming via a custom radio API client
• AI Integration: Google Gemini (generative AI)
• Speech: Windows.Media.SpeechRecognition and SpeechSynthesis
• Inking: Windows.UI.Input.Inking (InkCanvas)
• Serialisation: Newtonsoft.Json for data persistence

My Role

Sole developer responsible for:

• End-to-end UWP application architecture and UI/UX design
• Integration of external APIs (weather, radio, generative AI)
• Implementation of alarms (recurring + one-time), sound playback, and stopwatch utilities
• MediaHub development (music, radio streaming, video playback)
• InkCanvas drawing tools + export pipeline
• Accessibility-focused features (speech-to-text + text-to-speech)
• Persistent storage for alarms and preferences

Quick Start (User Controls)

• Switch apps: Ctrl + Space (hold Ctrl, tap Space to cycle, release to select)
• Touch switcher: swipe up from the bottom zone to open the app switcher
• Doodle/Chat layout: hover to reveal the switch button, then tap to swap panels

Project Structure

Outcome

This project demonstrates proficiency in:

• UWP Development: building a polished multi-page Windows application with touch-first UX
• API Integration: consuming live data sources for weather, radio, and AI features
• Multi-feature Architecture: coordinating alarms, media playback, AI chat, and inking within a cohesive UI
• Accessibility: speech-to-text and text-to-speech for inclusive interaction
• State Management: persistent storage, timers, and async flows across multiple modules