The FUSE Platform: Supporting Ubiquitous Collaboration Within Diverse Mobile Environments

The recent proliferation of heterogeneous computing devices and wireless network technology presents new opportunities for Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). One emergent paradigm is that of ubiquitous collaboration, which provides widespread access to shared services through a variety of interactive devices, irrespective of whether individuals are mobile or deskbound. However, developing groupware that is interoperable across diverse, often mobile, environments can be difficult and costly. The fundamental issue is that current support infrastructures, which will meet the requirements for multi-user application development, are not operable within emerging ubiquitous settings. This paper explores this problem and presents a generic platform that promotes new forms of collaboration through mobility and ever-present computing services. The developed platform seeks to provide a wide range of collaborative services to a very diverse set of devices by adapting and extending existing middleware technologies.