The Grand Aviary Hotel

VC with guest name: Extrimian and Room Number 1
Smart lock Prototype

Inspiration

Our inspiration for The Grand Aviary Hotel Keyless Access System came from the desire to modernize and streamline hotel access by enhancing security and convenience. Traditional hotel key cards can be inconvenient, and easily misplaced. Inspired by the power of Verifiable Credentials (VCs), we aimed to create a frictionless experience that allows guests to access their rooms and hotel amenities using only their mobile devices, and eliminating the need for physical key cards.

What It Does

Our software securely authenticates users, initiates credential issuance, and generates a unique QR code for each guest. Once the user receives and scans the QR code, it’s added to their digital wallet, completing the issuance process. For access, the system prompts a verification process where another QR code is generated, scanned, and quickly validated, unlocking the smart lock. This streamlined process provides a seamless and secure way for guests to enjoy keyless access to their rooms and hotel facilities.

How We Built It

We used a MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js) with TypeScript and Python, incorporating Flask for backend support. Extrimian’s ID Connect platform was vital for handling credential issuance and verification, allowing us to securely manage the VC process. For the hardware demonstration, we integrated a Raspberry Pi to simulate the physical locking mechanism, bringing the digital and physical components together.

Challenges We Faced

One of the most persistent challenges was troubleshooting errors, particularly the elusive 500 errors when reading QR codes. These errors required extensive debugging to identify their sources, as they often obscured root causes. Coordinating secure and real-time communication between the backend and Raspberry Pi was also a demanding task, as was optimizing our system for quick responses.

Accomplishments We’re Proud Of

We are particularly proud of creating an aesthetically pleasing and fully functional system that handles the entire hotel access process. Completing the credential issuance and verification flow—from user authentication to smart lock access was a significant achievement, especially as it met all the technical requirements for secure, digital guest access.

What We Learned

Throughout the project, we gained an understanding of decentralized identifiers (DIDs) and their role in issuing and verifying credentials. We explored multiple methods of creating and handling DIDs, improved our skills in full-stack development, and honed our ability to integrate digital systems with physical components, making our project fully capable of achieving its goal.

What's Next for The Grand Aviary Hotel Keyless Access System

Moving forward, we plan to refine the user interface to further enhance accessibility for all guests. We also aim to expand the system to allow guests access to multiple facilities across the hotel, integrating with other IoT-enabled devices for a fully connected hotel experience. Lastly, we plan to integrate robust analytics to provide hotel management with actionable insights on guest access trends and system performance, enabling a continually improved experience for both guests and hotel staff. Improve components for a more convenient flow.