Enabling Spatially Aware Mobile Applications

Recently, increasing numbers of mobile phones are appearing on the market that feature advanced navigation capabilities: embedded GPS receivers for global positioning, integrated digital compasses for detecting the heading of the device, or accelerometer-based tilt sensors will potentially enable upcoming and future mobile phones to measure their location and orientation in 3D space. In this paper, we present an application framework for building spatially aware mobile applications – applications that visualize, process or exchange geospatial information – on mobile phones equipped with such features. The core component of the framework is a novel, platform-independent XML data exchange format for the interface between application server and mobile device that describes the geographic vicinity of the user. The format enables a variety of new mobile interaction styles and user interface types – from traditional text-based local search and information interfaces to innovative real-time user interfaces like Geo-Wands and Smart Compasses.