The project in five facts.
Challenge, approach and results.
The diploma thesis addresses the development of a multimedia system for small hotels based on the open-source Kodi platform. The starting point is the need for an affordable, flexible and secure alternative to commercial hospitality/IPTV solutions such as Nevron IPTV, whilst small hotels often face limited budgets and a lack of in-house IT resources. On this basis, the HotelMediaCenter architectural solution has been designed, which is based on the open-source Kodi media player running on an Android TV device; a knowledge base is retrieved from a WordPress website using JSON/RSS feeds (hm-feed), and an AI voice assistant (Kodibot) is planned in separate network segments for TV/IoT, servers and the internet. The results show that the prototype provides stable operation, a clear user experience and the possibility of integrating an AI assistant to support guests.
Problem
The diploma thesis addresses the development of a multimedia system for small hotels based on the open-source Kodi platform. The starting point is the need for an affordable, flexible and secure alternative to commercial hospitality/IPTV solutions such as Nevron IPTV, whilst small hotels often face limited budgets and a lack of in-house IT resources. The theoretical part presents commercial and open-source solutions, the role of digital transformation in the hospitality industry, and key concepts of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
Solution and Method
On this basis, the HotelMediaCenter architectural solution has been designed, which is based on the open-source Kodi media player running on an Android TV device; a knowledge base is retrieved from a WordPress website using JSON/RSS feeds (hm-feed), and an AI voice assistant (Kodibot) is planned in separate network segments for TV/IoT, servers and the internet. The solution includes a customised user interface for the hotel environment with basic shortcuts to streaming services (Netflix, Prime Video, Spotify, YouTube) and the display of local information such as weather and events via RSS feeds.
Particular emphasis is placed on simple installation on Android TV stick devices, centralised maintenance and upgrade options without interfering with the Kodi core. In the practical part, a prototype is developed, and functional, performance and basic security testing as well as limited user evaluation are carried out.
Results
The results show that the prototype provides stable operation, a clear user experience and the possibility of integrating an AI assistant to support guests. The open-source approach proves to be more cost-effective and flexible for small hotels, provided that appropriate technical support is available. The hypothesis regarding the comparability of the user experience with commercial systems (H1) is partially confirmed, the hypotheses regarding cost efficiency (H2) and the feasibility of integrating AI functions for a beginner developer (H3) are partially confirmed (the voice interface was not fully implemented in the prototype due to platform limitations and is still under development), whilst the hypothesis regarding achieving an appropriate level of cybersecurity (H4) is conceptually confirmed with a recommendation for additional security reviews in a production environment.
Module, programme and stories.
Your diploma project for a real company.
A diploma thesis at Academia solves a challenge from a company – often the one where you do your 800 hours of placement. Read about the Razvoj aplikacij module or book a consultation.