A framework for device capability on demand and virtual device user experience

The proliferation of mobile devices is gradually making it possible to access information anywhere at any time. However, the physical capabilities of the mobile device still greatly limit the experience of users because functionality has usually been traded off for ubiquity. Nonetheless, the enormous growth rate of new information appliances heralds the dawning of a device-rich era. In this paper, we propose a framework for augmenting mobile device capabilities with surrounding devices. We then discuss a possible approach to represent an augmented device as one single virtual device. © Copyright 2004 by International Business Machines Corporation.