🌿
Project 11 — HomePulse

Your home,
managed by
text message

Photograph your fridge and get AI-generated recipes. Photograph a plant and get a care schedule. Text your home AI anytime. Database changes trigger intelligent SMS — automatically, in real time.

DynamoDB Streams Two-Way MMS/SMS Amazon Bedrock AI Amazon Rekognition Amazon Pinpoint Lambda EventBridge S3
▶ Try the interactive demo
~$3/month on AWS
How to start

Text HELP or START to +1 (402) 858-7982 to begin.

By texting HomePulse you consent to receive AI-generated home-assistant reply messages and reminders you set up. Message frequency varies. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to cancel, HELP for help.
Privacy Policy · Terms of Service

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HomePulse
● Active
📸 [fridge photo]
7:32 PM
I can see chicken, eggs, spinach, heavy cream, and lemons 🍋

Tonight I'd make:
• Lemon cream chicken
• Creamy spinach pasta
• French omelette

Want a recipe?
7:32 PM
lemon cream chicken
Lemon Cream Chicken (18 min)

1. Season chicken, sear 6 min/side
2. Add garlic + heavy cream
3. Squeeze 1 lemon, simmer 4 min
4. Finish with spinach

Also: you're out of butter since last scan — added to shopping list 🛒
↑
Architecture

Database changes drive
everything

The big idea: every piece of home data lives in DynamoDB. Every change — a new fridge scan, a plant going overdue, a shopping list update — fires a DynamoDB Stream. That stream triggers Bedrock. Bedrock decides if it's worth a text and what to say. This is event-driven AI, not a cron job.

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Pinpoint
You text or MMS a photo
⚡
Lambda Router
Photo or text? Route accordingly
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Rekognition
Identify food items or plant species
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DynamoDB Write
Inventory saved with timestamp
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DynamoDB Streams
Change detected — fires instantly
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Bedrock AI
Reads history, generates insight
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Pinpoint SMS
Intelligent text to your phone
01
Database Change Detection
DynamoDB Streams fires on every write — fridge scan, plant check, shopping update. The change itself is the trigger, not a timer. Real event-driven architecture, not polling.
02
Two-Way MMS/SMS
You send photos in. The system sends intelligence back. Text natural language questions at any time. Bedrock has your full home context in DynamoDB and answers from real data.
03
Bedrock as the Brain
Bedrock doesn't just alert on thresholds. It reads your full history — 90 days of fridge scans, plant care logs, patterns — and decides what's actually worth telling you and why.
How It Works

Two flows.
One intelligent system.

1
Fridge Scan
Text a photo of your fridge. Rekognition identifies every food item visible. DynamoDB stores the inventory with a timestamp. Streams compares to your last scan — anything that disappeared triggers a Bedrock-generated alert. You get recipe suggestions based on what's actually there.
You → 📸 fridge photo
Rekognition → ["chicken","eggs","spinach","cream"]
DynamoDB write → Stream fires
Stream detects → butter, milk missing
Bedrock → "You're out of butter — add to list?"
Pinpoint → SMS to your phone
2
Plant Care
Text a photo of any plant. Rekognition identifies the species. DynamoDB stores the care schedule — watering interval, health signals, last watered. EventBridge checks every morning. When a plant hits its threshold, Streams fires and Bedrock sends you a personalized reminder.
You → 📸 plant photo
Rekognition → "Monstera deliciosa"
DynamoDB → care schedule stored
Day 9 → EventBridge morning check
nextWater threshold hit → Stream fires
Bedrock → "Monstera needs water today"
3
Text Anything
Ask questions in plain English. Bedrock reads your full DynamoDB context — current fridge, all plants, shopping list, dietary preferences — and answers from your real data, not generic knowledge.
"What can I make for 4 people Saturday?"
Bedrock reads → fridge inventory
Bedrock answers → specific recipes
"Watered my monstera" → logs it
"Add eggs to shopping list" → writes to DB
The Core Insight
The database change is the event
Most alert systems poll on timers. HomePulse uses DynamoDB Streams — every write to the database immediately fires a Lambda. The Lambda reads the change, the old value, and 90 days of history, then asks Bedrock: is this worth a text? If yes, what should we say given everything we know about this person's home?

This is the pattern used by production systems at Amazon, Netflix, and Stripe — reactive, not scheduled. The difference is whether your system knows something happened the moment it happened, or finds out a few minutes later.
AWS Services Used
Amazon PinpointTwo-way MMS/SMS
Amazon RekognitionComputer vision
DynamoDB + StreamsChange detection
Amazon BedrockAI brain
LambdaEvent processing
EventBridgeMorning scheduler
S3Image storage
Live Conversations

What it actually
looks like

▶ Try the interactive demo yourself →
🥩
Fridge → Recipes + Change Alert
Rekognition · DynamoDB Streams · Bedrock
You
📸 [fridge photo]
⚡ Rekognition identified 7 items · DynamoDB updated · Stream fired · Bedrock generating...
HomePulse AI
I see chicken breast, eggs, spinach, heavy cream, 3 lemons, and cheddar 🍋

Tonight's options:
• Lemon cream chicken (18 min)
• Cheesy spinach omelette (10 min)
• Cream of spinach pasta (22 min)

Want a recipe?
⚡ Stream detected: butter + milk missing since last scan
Also — butter and milk disappeared since yesterday. Added both to your shopping list 🛒
lemon cream chicken please
Lemon Cream Chicken (18 min)

① Season + sear chicken 6 min/side
② Add 2 garlic cloves, cook 1 min
③ Pour in ½ cup heavy cream
④ Squeeze 1 full lemon
⑤ Wilt spinach in the sauce
⑥ Serve immediately

Pairs well with rice or crusty bread 🍋
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Plant Care + Morning Alert
EventBridge · DynamoDB Streams · Bedrock
You
📸 [plant photo] what is this
⚡ Rekognition identified: Monstera deliciosa · DynamoDB care profile created
That's a Monstera deliciosa 🌿 Beautiful one.

Care schedule set:
• Water every 9 days
• Next water: June 2nd
• Indirect bright light

I'll remind you when it's time. Reply "watered monstera" anytime to log it.
watered monstera
Logged ✓ Next water reminder: June 2nd. Your monstera is thriving 🌱
⚡ 9 days later — EventBridge 8am check · nextWater threshold hit · Stream fires
Good morning! Your Monstera is ready for water today — 9 days since last watering.

Also: your pothos is 2 days overdue 🪴

Reply "watered [plant]" when done.
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Natural Language Queries
Bedrock reads full DynamoDB context
what can I make for dinner, something high protein
With what's in your fridge right now:

• Garlic butter chicken + spinach (42g protein)
• Chicken and egg fried rice — need rice in pantry
• Egg white omelette with cheddar (28g)

The chicken breast expires tomorrow — use that first 🍗
what plants need attention this week
This week:
• Monstera — water tomorrow (day 8)
• Pothos — overdue 2 days ⚠️
• Fiddle leaf fig — fine until June 8th

The pothos has been struggling — you mentioned brown tips last week. Check the soil moisture.
add oat milk and garlic to my list
Added ✓
Shopping list (7 items):
butter, milk, oat milk, garlic, eggs, bread, olive oil

Want me to organize by store section?
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DynamoDB Streams in Action
Every DB write triggers real-time intelligence
⚡ STREAM EVENT: fridge scan · butter + milk missing · Lambda invoked
Heads up — you're out of butter and milk since this morning's scan. Added to your shopping list 🛒
⚡ STREAM EVENT: pothos.nextWater exceeded threshold · EventBridge 8am · Lambda invoked
Good morning! Your pothos is 3 days overdue for water — it's been 11 days. Water thoroughly until it drains. 🪴
⚡ STREAM EVENT: shopping list hit 10 items · threshold trigger
Your shopping list has 10 items now. Want me to organize it by produce, dairy, and pantry? Makes the trip faster 🛒
⚡ STREAM EVENT: fridge not scanned in 5 days · staleness check
Haven't seen your fridge in 5 days — are you traveling or should I clear the inventory? Just reply "away" or "home" 🏠
Cost

~$3/month on AWS

Based on one household, ~100 messages/month

ServiceWhat It DoesMonthly Cost
Amazon Pinpoint toll-free numberYour dedicated SMS number$2.00
Pinpoint SMS (100 messages)Inbound + outbound texts$0.65
Amazon RekognitionImage analysis per photo scan$0.10
Amazon Bedrock (Claude Haiku)AI responses and insights$0.15
DynamoDB + StreamsAll home data + change events$0.05
Lambda + API GatewayAll event processing$0.02
EventBridgeMorning plant checks$0.00
S3Image storage (30-day TTL)$0.01
Total~$2.98/month