Mobile Collaborative Application Designs, Techniques, and its Future Prospects

Introduction:

AS we know that the technology trends are growing very fast and rapidly now a days where we need to have much more enhanced techniques to manage it. The Mobile collaboration is a tool that are essential to the success of any business now a days. It allows us to get connect with our team and collaborate seamlessly. Whether you're working from home or across the globe, mobile collaboration tools can help your business stay connected and efficient. 

The Collaborative applications are pieces of software that assist people who are working together on a common goal. Groupware is another name for these applications. The use of collaboration elements in the design of interactive applications has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. Mobile devices have become more capable of supporting collaborative activities as mobile technologies have advanced. However, simply gathering a group of people to work on a task does not guarantee true collaboration; activities must be structured in order to convey good collaboration. Smartphones and tablets enable the development of entirely new ways of working, as well as new collaborative possibilities. Combining this with other trends such as cloud computing and social collaboration can completely transform existing business models. 

Mobile Collaboration:

Mobile collaboration is the process of connecting people no matter where they are or which device, they are using by using mobile team communication and collaboration tools. These applications are mobile versions of the desktop software which can function without the help of a desktop counterpart. Users can connect with these applications from both mobiles and their respective desktops. 

The following are the most widely used mobile collaboration apps and features: 

1. File sharing apps 
2. Note-taking apps 
3. Video calling apps 
4. Messenger apps
5. Project management apps
6. Screen sharing apps 

Roles and responsibility for Mobile Collaborative Developer

Designing mobile collaborative applications:

In terms of computation, storage, and data visualization, mobile devices have made significant advances. They're quickly becoming the preferred device for running a wide range of programs while also allowing for real-time collaboration and mobility. Despite this development, battery consumption and network coverage continue to be significant obstacles to the efficient and ongoing usage of these mobile collaborative apps, as well as a significant challenge for their designers and developers. 

Here are some features that a mobile collaborative app possess; 

1. It should be simple to use.
2. Collaboration that is asynchronous.
3. Collaboration that is synchronous.
4. Must be able to keep the archives updated.
5. The user interface (UI) should be user-friendly.
6. Should provide virtual assistance.
7. Have an application sharing facility that makes text communication easy.
8. Audio and video communication must be provided. 
9. Assistance on connectivity management. 
10. Assistance on session management.
11. Providing the instructor with the ability to check the group members. 
12. The server should send a message indicating that the information is being updated. 
13. Must provide audio, video, and text translation services into other languages.
14. Client must have the provision to notify the company of his or her availability.
15. To provide assistance for the role of the user.

Based on experience and relevant literature, a conceptual framework for supporting analysis and design of collaborative mobile applications can be offered. It can be used to identify non-functional needs and design constraints that developers can employ to create contextualized apps. This procedure is always evolving. As a result, each phase produces a more detailed and precise list of non-functional needs and design constraints. 

According to the software development phases of conception, analysis, and architectural design, the context elements are divided into eight types of context realms arranged in three tiers (Fig.2). The social and collaborative task environments are included in the conception phase. These contexts help application developers gain a broad understanding of the system needs. The ability of people to collaborate via technology is defined by their social situation. The collaborative task context defines the activity's main characteristics, such as the common aim and the support required for mobile users. This paradigm could be useful for both collaborative and non-collaborative mobile software development. Furthermore, the framework could be used to help with the analysis and design of stationary groupware systems. Future study will look into these extensions. 

Techniques used in mobile collaborative apps:

With mobile collaborative applications, there are a variety of techniques and methods that can be used on a variety of platforms. Here are some of the applications that can be used in some areas, as well as their contributions to the field. 

MCVE:

The application of mobile technologies in a collaborative virtual environment is growing rapidly in the computing community. Users of the Mobile Collaborative Virtual Environment (MCVE) can interact with a shared virtual environment using mobile devices that are connected via an ad-hoc network (MANET). Each user is represented by an avatar, which is a graphical body. Players can see and hear each other thanks to the avatar concept. Online games, virtual shopping, training simulations, and emergency preparedness have all been used as potential MCVE applications. 

MCL:

The number of mobile applications has grown in tandem with the rapid growth of wireless communication technologies. One of them was approached for the mobile learning area because it is unique in its own right and provides opportunities for learning anywhere and at any time. Mobile collaborative learning (MCL) is a mobile device-based small-group learning application. MCL is a new and fascinating study field in which students use a mobile device to engage with others while learning about a topic or concept. This pedagogical learning technique opens up various possibilities, such as allowing groups of individuals from the same or separate businesses to use mobile devices to accomplishing a certain purpose.

SDG (Single Display Groupware):

SDG (Single Display Groupware) are computer applications that allow co-present users to cooperate using a shared computer with a single shared display and many input devices at the same time. This is quite prevalent in arcade games, but it might also be useful in instructional and monitoring applications. Preventing users from interfering with or distracting one other is a major issue in collaborative apps. The following are some of the features of SDG:  

• Face-to-face connection is encouraged.
• Views that are shared and combined.
• User interface that is shared.
• Feedback that has been shared.
• Several cursors.
• Input devices of many sorts.
• There are no privileged devices. 
• There is no worldwide data. 

MDG ( Multiple Display Groupwares):

These are basically a virtual workspaces made up of co-located personal (e.g. laptops) and shared (e.g. huge screens) devices that are networked together. Many home users and businesses can now afford numerous computers with multiple screens, because of the decreasing cost of computers and monitors. MDG (multi-display groupware) is a software that works in a multi-display environment (MDE). MDE is a multi-display system that spans numerous PCs and is shared by multiple users. It excludes the use of numerous monitors on a single computer. Multiple display groupwares provide an intriguing possibility for organizations to better communicate with digital content.

MANET (Mobile Ad-hoc Network):

A Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET) is made up of a group of mobile devices that join together as needed to build a network, with no help from existing internet infrastructure or permanent stations. A MANET is a self-contained system of nodes connected by wireless connections that create a communication network described as an arbitrary communication graph. Industrial and commercial applications including cooperative mobile data sharing are examples of particular ad hoc network applications. Many present and future military networking needs exist for robust, IP compliant data services inside mobile wireless communication networks, and many of these networks are made up of highly dynamic autonomous topological segments. New applications are being enabled by advanced capabilities of mobile ad hoc networks, such as data rates compatible with multimedia applications, global roaming capability, and collaboration with other network architectures.

 With the introduction of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, as well as their integration with cloud computing, ubiquitous computing is becoming a reality. This widespread availability allows for creative applications in which mobile devices collaborate on behalf of their consumers. However, applications that take use of this new paradigm have yet to hit the market. The rapid advancement of technology has resulted in substantial computational power being concentrated in mobile and small devices. Furthermore, the development of wireless communication technology has resulted in the emergence of a new type of community known as MVCs. AR technology opens up new possibilities for interacting between the actual and virtual worlds, which is a crucial topic for future study. To create novel interaction strategies, three significant research paradigms—ubiquitous computing, tangible bits, and sociological reasoning—can be examined. In case of employee management collaborative apps, IT will need to add dynamic policy rules that change quickly based on the behaviors of the apps to assist manage, monitor, and protect the new generation of business mobile apps. This sort of flexibility is now integrated into mobile application management systems, removing the need for IT to constantly monitor employee app usage because changes and warnings are provided to them automatically.