Mobile mathematics communication

We present a system [1] that allows wireless smartphones to beused for mathematics communication, that is, for the creation andexchange of mathematical formulas, diagrams, and text between twoor more participants. The system enables two or more persons withsmartphones or traditional computers to participate in a session.Each of the participants may convey textual, graphical andmathematical information to the other participants. Users can draw,edit, and label geometric shapes, send chat messages, and composeformulas. A turn taking mechanism moderates the communication. Thesystem also supports the integration of services that can be usedto provide individual users with additional functionality.Currently, a LATEX rendering service is available to allow users tocreate and share mathematical formulas in typeset quality. Wireless smartphones are becoming the medium of choice forimprovised synchronous collaboration since increasing numbers ofusers carry their smartphones at all times. It is true that thesmall size of the devices---while necessary for theirubiquity---limits the complexity of collaborative tasks that can becarried out effectively. On the other hand, there is a need tocapture inspiration, to access and evaluate information on the go,and to make decisions on the spot. The domain of mathematics is ideally suited to explore---andpush---the limits of smartphone communication. The challenge ofrepresenting mathematics in typeset form has led to the developmentof document preparation systems such as TEX, LATEX, and LYX whichare in widespread use today. Mathematical handwriting recognitioncontinues to push the limits of general handwriting recognition[2]. Many of the cognitive challenges that arise in mathematicalcollaboration also arise in intellectual teamwork in otherdomains. Some of the challenges of developing a system for mobilemathematics communication are posed by the input and outputlimitations of the devices and the enormous heterogeneity of theavailable hardware platforms. We use the Treo 600/650 as our hardware platform. Our softwareis written in pure Java and can be run on any platform thatsupports the Java Virtual Machine. Our software architecture makesit easy to add new local or remote services to enhance thecommunication. The poster presents use-case diagrams, architecture diagrams,and a series of screenshots that describe the user's interactionwith the system. The poster also shows how we solved the problemsof cross-referencing and turn-taking in mobile collaboration. A7.5-minute video shows users interacting with the system.