The Mobile Conference Information System. Unleashing academic conferences with wireless mobile computing

Wireless mobile computing promises to usher in the next major paradigm in personal computing. Hand-held computers in particular are truly portable and they are becoming increasingly capable of meeting most users' computing needs. In this paper, we outline a vision for deploying wireless mobile computing technology within the realm of professional conferences by creating the Mobile Conference Information System (MCIS). With detailed descriptions of applications and hypothetical usage scenarios, we describe how the system can be used to access conference information, to network people and to enhance common conference services. We also describe several constraints, limitations and challenges with this concept, and we suggest how these problems can be overcome. The MCIS dramatically changes how conferences are managed and enhances the experiences of the attendees.