Context-aware communication

Describes the Mercury system, whereby a user of an electronic message service receives messages on a device and in a format appropriate to his context (travelling, in a meeting, etc.); and ConChat, whereby besides transmitting his message he automatically transmits contextual information such as his location, the number and identities of other people in the room, the room´s ambient temperature, lighting, and sound, other applications and devices running in the room, his mood, his personal status (on the ´phone, out to lunch, etc), and any activity in the room.