MatchBase: a development suite for efficient context-aware communication

In distance communication, there is - despite technical progress in information and communication technology - still an asymmetry and tension between the contacter who spontaneously wants to approach the contactee over distance, and the contactee who wants to avoid inappropriate disruption. We have designed and developed MatchBase - a development suite for efficient context-aware communication. Context-aware communication aims to use computer hardware and software to mediate communication between contacters and contactees according to their actual context, where the contacters´ context refers to their current situation and their motivation to initiate the communication and where the contactees´ context refers to their current situation and availability. In this paper, we present the concept and the implementation of the MatchBase development suite.