VIMM Follow-On Opportunities and Plans

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VIMM Follow-On Opportunities and Plans

• Ted Hanss
• 29 November 2001

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Challenge and Opportunity

• A virtual meeting created an opportunity to
• Use and experiment with video technologies
• Showcase the capabilities of high-performance
  networking
• Work together with our member community to make
  it all happen

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Virtual Member Meeting
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Virtual Member Meeting
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Plenary Viewing Options

• Real Streams at 128K, 256K, 512K
• IP/TV
• H.323 Multipoint Control Units (MCUs)
• VRVS
• Access Grid
• Research Channel (cable, satellite and Windows
  Media stream)
• Genesys audio-only conference call

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Track Session Viewing Options

• H.323 Multipoint Control Units (MCUs)
• Real streams
• Genesys audio-only conference call
• VRVS and Access Grid (for some sessions)

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Debrief Information

• Statistics
• User comments
• Technical team assessment

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Statistics

• Over 90 individuals presented
• Out of 36 planned track sessions for Austin, 22
  were presented virtually
• Some sessions had higher attendance than similar
  sessions at in-person meetings
• We received 7,494 unique visitors to the VIMM
  website
• 105 respondents to our survey, normally we get
  around 30

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Positive User Feedback

• Being able to attend without leaving my office.
• People who werent planning to travel to Austin
  were able to participate.
• Being able to hop between sessions or view
  multiple sessions simultaneously.
• Having archived streams so I can see the
  sessions I missed.

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Positive User Feedback, cont.

• The VIMM demonstrated that using
  video-conferencing technologies to share critical
  information can be done.

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Negative User Feedback

• No way to have a virtual glass of scotch with
  colleagues.
• Interruptions/distractions resulting from normal
  office demands.
• Please dont do this again. Anyone who expects
  that users will sit and watch TV for multiple
  days as a replacement for a real conference is
  out of their minds.

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Technical Debrief

• Consensus that overall it went well
• Some network problems
• Audio problems
• Inconsistency in quality of presenters
• No floor control for QA
• Difficulty in measuring audience
• TV and netcasting are different, doing both
  simultaneously is hard

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Technical Help

• Bob Dixon of Ohio State University, Tyler
  Johnson of University of North Carolina at Chapel
  Hill, and Doug Pearson of Indiana University, for
  MCU and streaming support
• Alan Crosswell of Columbia University for help
  with testing the IP/TV stream
• Greg Goddard of University of Florida for running
  our Access Grid node
• Philippe Galvez of CERN for providing VRVS
  support

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Help, cont.

• Charlie Marks of University of Michigan for
  providing Real Stream support
• Michael Wellings of University of Washington for
  being the floor director during the VIMM plenary
• Kathleen McMonigal of University of Washington
  for providing MediaPlayer and Real Streams from
  the ResearchChannel, and for rebroadcasting the
  plenary after the live transmission had concluded

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Whats Next?

• Use the VIMM as a model for other events.
• Monthly virtual meetings will continue on
  various topics (initially, Middleware).
• Alternate virtual and in-person meetings.
• The Commons will offer a suite of services that
  will allow Internet2 community to host their own
  virtual meetings.
• Best practices and VIMM Cookbook will be
  published.

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Internet2 Commons
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The Internet2 Commons

• An effort to encourage and support large-scale,
  distributed collaboration for the research and
  education community
• A vision
• Enabling one-to-one, one-to-group, and
  group-to-group collaboration
• Supporting personal communications, meetings,
  conferences, and teaching and learning
• For Internet2 members and their international
  counterparts

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Data Sharing
Instant Messaging
Voice/IP
Electronic Notebooks
Peer to Peer
Collaboratories
Others
H.323
VRVS
Videoconferencing Technologies
AG
MPEG2
Others
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A Problem to Solve

• As a community we use several, mostly
  incompatible, videoconferencing technologies
• H.323
• Access Grid
• VRVS (Virtual Room Videoconferencing System)
• MPEG1 2
• DV over Firewire
• HDTV

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Virtual Rooms Videoconferencing SystemCaltech
and CERNhttp//www.vrvs.org/
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VRVS

• Web-based, worldwide video-conferencing service
  and collaborative environment

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Access Grid
www.accessgrid.org
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Approach

• Share information about recommended uses
• Decision tree room-based vs. desktop-based,
  video quality levels, multicast vs. unicast,
• Point people to current implementations
• Facilitate development and deployment projects

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Challenges

• Funding models
• Hitting the right balance of offering stable
  technologies that work and continuing the
  exploration efforts
• Authentication, authorization, and privacy
  services (VidMid work areas)
• User interface issues
• Finding more content

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User Interface Issues

• What should the Commons front door look like?

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ResearchChannel

• Pioneering new methods for distributing live
  content
• Building channels to facilitate the
  communication and research of information

ResearchChannel Consortium
http//www.researchchannel.com/
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An opportunity

• Partner with the ResearchChannel to get more
  content, e.g., by getting academic conferences to
  use Commons technology in their meetings

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From VIMM to Internet2 Digital Commons
http//www.internet2.edu/e2epi

• George Brett
• November 29, 2001

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The Internet2 Commons

• An effort to encourage and support large-scale,
  distributed collaboration for the research and
  education community
• A vision
• Enabling one-to-one, one-to-group, and
  group-to-group collaboration
• Supporting personal communications, meetings,
  conferences, and teaching and learning
• For Internet2 members and their international
  counterparts

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A Collaboration Check List

• Video Conferencing
• Document collaboration
• Bulletin Boards
• Calendar and scheduling
• Collaboration tools
• Conferencing and Virtual Office
• Distance learning (education and training)
• Internet Presentations
• Whiteboards
• Collaboration servers
• File and document sharing (web-based)
• --- found on the websomewhere

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Collaboration Stuff

• Real Time
• Video Audio Conferencing
• Instant Messaging / Chat Spaces
• White Board tools
• Shared Applications (viz, remotes, etc.)
• Peer-to-Peer (Groove)

• Any Time
• Streaming Video Audio
• Threaded Conferences
• Graphical tools (White Board more)
• Guided Tours / Replay of Applications
• Peer-to-Peer (Groove)

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Access Grid
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VRVS
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SPARC
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CAVE
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Collaboration Stuff

• Real Time
• Video Audio Conferencing
• Instant Messaging / Chat Spaces
• White Board tools
• Shared Applications (viz, remotes, etc.)
• Peer-to-Peer (Groove)

• Any Time
• Streaming Video Audio
• Threaded Conferences
• Graphical tools (White Board more)
• Guided Tours / Replay of Applications
• Peer-to-Peer (Groove)

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Corporate Memory a big question
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Smaller Questions

• How do people work in small teams or in research
  lab or in classroom?
• How can we work to ensure collaboration is Any
  Time as well as Real Time?
• How to we plan for the long term as well as the
  immediate or short term?
• How can we get the most bang for the buck?
• Who can we engage to partner in this
  activity/research project?

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www.internet2.edu
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www.internet2.edu