Position aware group information services

Abstract

We present an analysis of the needs of groups of individuals for positioning information using mobile multimedia terminals for accessing location-based information. We consider first a simple framework relating the needs of individuals and groups to information about the location of other group members. The concept of a layered service for delivering position-dependent information to mobile devices is discussed. We present the results of a study which found that people felt that organizing successful rendezvous was problematic but that this could be assisted by a suitably designed mobile positioning service. We introduce the main features of an implementation addressing the provision of position-sensitive groupware services.