Location Oriented Integration of Internet Information - Mobile Info Search

Information on the Internet is becoming more attractive and useful for our daily life. It provides things on the town, happenings on the city, and learning of the real world. If we can utilize such information for the interaction between the human and the city, it can enhance the value and the function of the city. In this paper we introduce the research project \Mobile Info Search" in which we study the method of integrating heterogeneous information in a location-oriented way for providing it in a handy form with mobile computing. We have a prototype of Mobile Info Search at http://www.kokono.net/, a location-based \search engine". Local information such as yellow pages, maps, and relevant Web pages at any location of Japan are provided with a simple interface. From the analysis of test services, we will discuss the user issues and information source issues; What kind of local information is welcomed? What can we learn from collected documents? Through the experience of handling various contents related to the real-world, we describe the potential of the Internet information for the digital city e orts.