Teleporting - Making Applications Mobile

Abstract

The rapid emergence of mobile computers as a popular, and increasingly powerful, computing tool is presenting new challenges. This subject is already being widely addressed within the computing literature. A complementary and relatively unexplored notion ofmobility is one in which application interfaces, rather than the computer on which the applications run, are able to move. The Teleporting System developed at the Olivetti Research Laboratory (ORL) is a tool for experiencing such 'mobile applications'. It operates within the X Window System1 , and allows users to interact with their existing X applications at any X display within a building. The process ofcontrolling the interface to the teleporting system is very simple. This simplicity comes from the use ofan automatically maintained database ofthe location ofequipment and people within the building. This paper describes the teleporting system, what it does, and how it is used. We outline some of the issues ofmaking applications mobile that have arisen during its implementation.