Telepathology Prototype
We have developed and deployed several components into the collaboratory environment. These tools , such as the conference controller and the remote camera controller, provide core functionality. The next step is to integrate these tools into a coherent conference management system that includes the videoconferencing and floor control tools. The conference management system will allow users to announce videoconferences, listen for announcements of conferences, launch the videoconferencing tools, control the video and audio properties, control remote cameras, and do floor control. Some of these tools, such as floor control, exist only in rudimentary implementations so additional work will be required before they can be integrated. It is our intent to create Java beans that encapsulate each of the conference management capabilities and thus provide the user with a fully configurable videoconferencing user interface. Although a fully Java-based version is the end goal, several of the videoconferencing tools are not yet available in Java. We will evaluate on a tool-by-tool basis the best way to integrate the tool.
We are also integrating the Collaboratory Interoperability Framework communication interface into each tool we build. This allows us to very quickly build communication into our tools and it facilitates coordination between the tools since they use common communication mechanisms. In addition, we have been working with the LBL Akenti group to begin integration of authorization components into the collaboratory tools. The authorization component integration will be particularly essential when we build the conference management system since it will provide the means of integrating the security capabilities of the videoconferencing components so that users will be able to authenticate once and be given appropriate access based on their credentials for each component in the system.
There are many aspects of a collaboratory that had not been envisioned before the collaboratory implementation began. Since groups are not used to collaborating over the Internet, they have difficulty determining the interaction patterns they will develop and the tools they will need to support their activities. Through our experiences working with several collaboratory development efforts, we are working to define and develop these missing tools as they become needed. Tools like the conference controller have turned out to make the difference in acceptance of the collaboratory environment. These tools are only identified and developed through implementation of the collaboratory environment and daily contact with the scientists using the collaboratory. Tools like the conference controller are small in focus but they are necessary to the success of collaboratories in general.
Telepathology Prototype
Spectro-Microscopy Prototype
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Deb Agarwal (DAAgarwal@lbl .gov) and Marcia Perry ( MPerry@lbl.gov) are responsible for this WWW document. This document was last updated on February 23, 1999, and is located at http://www-itg.lbl.gov/Collaboratories/summary.html. William E. Johnston (johnston@george.lbl.gov) has reviewed this WWW document.
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