Development of a multimedia application for smaller hotels based on the Kodi system
Application development
The thesis examines 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, adaptable, and secure alternative to commercial hospitality/IPTV solutions such as Nevron IPTV, as smaller 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 hospitality, and key concepts of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. On this basis, the HotelMediaCenter architecture is designed, built on Kodi running on an Android TV device.
A WordPress website provides a “knowledge base” via JSON/RSS sources (hm-feed), and an AI voice assistant (Kodibot) is planned within separate network segments for TV/IoT devices, servers, and internet access.
The solution includes a customized hotel user interface with shortcuts to streaming services (Netflix, Prime Video, Spotify, YouTube) and local information such as weather and events via RSS feeds, with emphasis on simple deployment on Android TV stick devices and centralized maintenance.
In the practical part, a prototype is developed and functional, performance, and basic security testing are carried out, along with a limited user evaluation. The results show stable operation, a clear user experience, and the possibility of integrating an AI assistant for guest support. The open-source approach proves to be more cost-effective and more flexible for small hotels, provided that adequate technical support is ensured.
The hypothesis on comparability with commercial systems (H1) is partially confirmed. The hypotheses on cost-effectiveness (H2) and the feasibility of integrating AI features by a novice developer (H3) are also partially confirmed (due to platform limitations, the voice interface was not fully implemented in the prototype and remains under development).
The hypothesis on achieving an adequate level of cybersecurity (H4) is conceptually confirmed, with a recommendation for additional security assessments in a production environment.
