Readme: project ambitions and contribution info

README.md

@@ -1,23 +1,94 @@
 # Bouncy Feet
 
-It's the DuoLingo for shuffle dance!
+A web app that assists you in learning to shuffle dance. Bouncy Feet shows you
+new moves and checks if you are doing it right.
 
-A web app that assists you in learning to shuffle dance.
+The app can be installed as a Progressive Web App or just used directly like a
+web page. It should work in all major browsers, on the phone or on laptops and
+workstations. You only need a camera which you can position in a way where your
+full body is clearly visible while you dance.
 
-1. Learn new moves through videos integrated in the app.
-2. Practice on your own.
-3. Record your dance with the app and it will mark errors.
-4. Share your recording with friends.
+## Why would I need an app for dancing?
+
+Let's be honest, dancing is best without interacting with your phone or laptop.
+Just play some music and go. The app is designed with this principle in mind and
+tries to support you without getting in your way.
+
+**Easy Review**: After a dance, you can review your video recording. Bouncy Feet
+enhances the recording with timestamps and body positions it detects on the
+beat. If you like the video, save and share it. Otherwise, delete the video and
+it is gone forever. (BouncyFeet is perfectly private and never uploads the
+video, everything is done on your device only.)
+
+**Browse a Collection of Moves**: An ever-growing list of shuffle moves are
+available in the app to inspire you.
+
+**Stay Motivated**: Incremental statistics counting how many steps you danced in
+your lifetime using the app motivates you to stay fit and active.
+
+**And more in the future**:
+- Attach video tutorials to moves in the collection.
+- Combine moves to choreographies. Learn them with an interactive audio guide.
+  Share the choreography with friends to practice at home and next time you meet
+  you will be able to dance it together in synchrony.
+- Easy video editing with filters and custom 3D models dancing next to you or
+  instead of you.
+
+**But never forget**: Dancing is physical, not digital. An app will not replace
+your visit at the dance studio where you meet your friends and sweat alongside
+them. Bouncy Feet the app works best when you forget that it's even recording
+you while you dance. Bouncy Feet is designed to be useful to you while
+minimizing the screen time of you using it.
+
+## About the Project
+
+At its core, Bouncy Feet is an attempt of myself to create a product which
+people actually want to use. Including myself as user number one.
+
+In October 2023, I quit my fulltime job to work on my own terms. Bouncy Feet had
+not crossed my mind, yet. But after a few weeks this idea of a dance app came to
+me and I decided to start working on it for the majority of my time while doing
+other gigs on the side to keep my personal finances in balance.
+
+It is unclear where this project will end up. But right now, I am convinced the
+first version of the app will be free for everyone and without adds. It might
+make sense to add monetization later. But only if this ever turns from a fun
+project to something that needs to be profitable to put food on table for me and
+others. But that is a far dream and too unlikely at this moment to be worth
+thinking about too much.
+
+Regarding tech, the project uses [SvelteKit](https://kit.svelte.dev/) for
+everything UI, [MediaPipe](https://developers.google.com/mediapipe) with
+pre-trained models for basic pose detection, and Rust for the core business
+logic (dance detection).
 
 ## Progress Status
 
+- 23 Dec 2023: Update README to better describe the project ambitions. The
+  techstack with SvelteKit + Rust to create a PWA is mostly locked in now.
 - 20 Nov 2023: Started using [SvelteKit](https://kit.svelte.dev/).
 - 18 Nov 2023: Initialized repository under the name `bouncy-feet`.
 - Oct - Nov 2023: Tried out the core concepts in a
   [prototype](https://github.com/jakmeier/dance-app-poc-playground).
 
 # Open-Source Commitment
 
+I am a strong proponent of open-source software for two main reasons.
+
+1. I personally love it when I am able to look at the source code of software I
+   use. It can be a great learning experience to look at real code and the
+   process of how that code came to be.
+2. I admire the community aspect of successful open-source projects. People use
+   it to learn and practice their favorite technologies beyond what would be
+   possible at a day-to-day job. This is the perfect counterweight to big
+   cooperations in the software space.
+
+With this mindset, I want this project to be as open and welcoming as possible.
+Even in the unlikely event where I want to monetize some form of Bouncy Feet, I
+would still want to keep all the source code free and open-source. I would want
+to monetize the content inside the app (think dance courses), if anything. But
+access to the software itself should always remain free.
+
 ## License
 
 This project is developed under permissive licenses. You may freely reuse the
@@ -32,11 +103,33 @@ unsuitable for your project, please open an issue.
 
 ## Contribution
 
-The current status is **source available** without explicit encouragement for
-external contributions. I am happy to answer pull requests and issues but please
-set your expectation right, there can be delays.
+The current status is **source available** without proper documentation that
+would be necessary to encourage a wider community to contribute. Hopefully, this
+will improve over time. But if the lack of documentation does not bother you, I
+am happy to answer pull requests and issues if you open them.
+
+If you are interested in helping out by implementing features, the first place
+to look is the list of [issues with contribution
+encouraged](https://github.com/jakmeier/bouncy-feet/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22contribution+encouraged%22).
+These are typically long-term features which I know I want in the app eventually
+but I don't have the capacity to work on them right now. If you want to work on
+them, I will give my best to help you help me and make it a pleasant
+collaboration experience for both of us.
+
+But the list of issues is never complete and there are certainly other ways to
+contribute, too. If you are interested in getting involved but don't see an
+issue that suits you, please drop me a quick message at [email protected] and
+describe your level of experience with Rust/Svelte and let me know what kind of
+contribution interests you.
+
+I myself have decent experience using Rust and can also mentor you a bit on your
+journey learning it if that's what you are looking for. But with Svelte, I am
+very new and could probably use some mentoring by you. :P Or we can learn it
+side by side, you don't need to be professional with Svelte to contribute.
+
+Oh and there are certainly non-technical ways to contribute, too! If you want to
+help out with the dance content, or with translations, or something else, please
+drop me a message [email protected] and I am more than happy to discuss
+further.
+
 
-Hopefully, the project will mature to a point where external contribution is
-actively encouraged. But at this state of the project, there is not enough
-stable code in the repository to justify collaboration with strangers, which
-always comes with an overhead.