ArtVaani-H2S

ArtVaani: Weaving Stories, Selling Art

ArtVaani is a modern e-commerce platform designed to empower artisans by connecting their crafts to a global audience. It leverages the power of Generative AI to help artisans tell the story behind their work, creating a richer, more engaging experience for buyers.

Tech Stack

This project is built with a modern, server-centric, and AI-first technology stack:

• Framework: Next.js (with App Router)
• Language: TypeScript
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• UI Components: ShadCN UI
• Database: Firebase Firestore (for product, user, and order data)
• Authentication: Firebase Authentication (supporting email/password, Google, and phone authentication)
• Generative AI: Genkit (by Firebase) using Google’s Gemini family of models for:
  • Product content generation (title, story, price, tags)
  • Speech-to-text transcription
  • Cultural insights generation
  • Identity verification assistance

Core Functionality

ArtVaani serves two primary user roles: the Artisan (seller) and the Customer (buyer).

For Artisans: The Seller Experience

The platform is designed to make it incredibly simple for artisans, regardless of their technical background, to list products and share their heritage.

1. Simple Onboarding: Artisans can sign up using their email, Google account, or phone number. A simple profile setup captures their name and city.

2. AI-Powered Product Listing: This is the core feature for artisans. The flow is designed to be completed in a single, intuitive process:
   • Upload: The artisan uploads a photo of their product.
   • Describe: They provide a brief description, either by typing or by using their voice. The voice recording is automatically transcribed into text using AI.
   • AI Analysis: Upon submission, a Genkit flow analyzes the image and description to generate:
     • A catchy Title.
     • A compelling Story that highlights the craft’s cultural significance.
     • A suggested Price based on the perceived materials and complexity.
     • A list of relevant Tags for discoverability.
   • Review & Publish: The artisan is taken to a review screen where they can edit the AI-generated content. They can save it as a draft or publish it directly to the marketplace.
3. Artisan Dashboard: A dedicated dashboard where artisans can:
   • View key metrics (sales, product counts).
   • See a list of all their products (both draft and published).
   • Edit existing product details.
   • Manage their profile.
4. AI-Assisted Identity Verification: To build trust, artisans complete a one-time verification. The process combines a live photo, GPS location, and profile data, which is analyzed by an AI agent to confirm the artisan’s identity.
   • Data Collection: The artisan provides a live photo from their device’s camera and grants access to their current GPS location.
   • AI Analysis: The system sends this data, along with the city listed in the artisan’s profile, to a specialized AI flow.
   • Location Cross-Reference: The AI uses a tool to convert the raw GPS coordinates into a city name. It then compares this detected city with the city the artisan entered in their profile.
   • Photo Context Analysis: The AI examines the background of the live photo, looking for environmental cues (like architecture or flora) to determine if it’s plausible for the claimed location.
   • Decision: Verification is successful only if the GPS-derived city matches the profile city AND the photo background is deemed consistent. If not, a reason for the failure is provided.

For Customers: The Buyer Experience

Customers get a seamless shopping experience enriched with cultural context.

1. Product Discovery:
   • The Home Page features a hero section and a curated list of featured products.
   • The Products Page displays the entire collection of published crafts in a grid layout.
2. Rich Product Details: Each product page showcases:
   • High-quality product images.
   • The AI-crafted story, providing a narrative that connects the buyer to the craft’s origins.
   • Clear pricing and artisan details (name, city, and verification status).

3. Shopping Cart: A standard, easy-to-use shopping cart for adding products, adjusting quantities, and proceeding to checkout.

4. Cultural Insights Explorer: An AI-powered page where anyone can enter the name of a craft (e.g., “Madhubani Painting”) and receive a detailed write-up about its history, techniques, and cultural importance.

5. Multilingual Support: The user interface supports multiple languages, making the platform accessible to a broader audience.

---