Automorphic functions for a Kleinian group

In the paper `Automorphic functions for a Whitehead-complement group', [Osaka J Math 43 (2006) 63-77] Matsumoto, Nishi and Yoshida constructed automorphic functions on real 3-dimensional hyperbolic space for a Kleinian group called the Whitehead-link-complement group. For a Kleinian group (of the first kind), no automorphic function/form has been studied before. In this note, their motivation is presented with a historical background.