The Access Grid Persistent Collaborative Spaces On the Internet

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The Access GridPersistent Collaborative
SpacesOn the Internet

• Frank Gilfeather, UNM
• representing
• The Entire Access Grid Team
• (ANL - development, PACS - deployment, others)

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How would research, collaborations, training,
and even education be different if
communication was free and instantaneous
?Isnt it now?
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Hmmm ?

• E-mail does work fast - but is there more?
• I can call, but
• What if it were really unlimited - are there
  other possibilities?
• Perhaps
• Collaborating would be easier than soloing
• Team teaching could involve anyone - anywhere
• Virtual teams for collaboration would arise
  easily
• Projects would develop wider scope, more sharing
• Feedback would be instantaneous and effective
• Local pockets of expertise would be harder to
  defend
• Instruments would be available remotely to
  distributed groups

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Technology Trends

• Data traffic will exceed voice traffic in 2-4
  years
• Voice traffic will become an small fraction
  within 8 years
• Bandwidth prices will eventually begin to follow
  Moores law
• 2X capability every 18 months with falling prices
• Personal devices will augment desktop, and
• Real integration will occur between all data,
  voice, and video
• Multicast will be a common mode of communication
• VR will become an effective tool - easy to use
• Can telecommunication supplant travel?

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Drivers for the Technology Trends

• Distributed visualization will become essential
  to key endeavors such as science, business,
  government, .
• Applications such as
• telehealth - virtual clinics to remote areas,
• distance education - linking multiple classrooms,
  
• distance training - linking common sites,
• remote instrumentation - collaboration using
  special and scarce resources
• meetings - yes, travel to committees will cease
  (dream on)
• will be pervasive and drive changes

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Worklife Trends

• Virtual organizations will begin to work (better)
• Merging of work/life/play/home/school (Ricks
  thought)
• Work models expand to include more distributed
  conversation/communication/collaboration
• Dominance of new/multidisciplinary problem
  solving in science and business
• Shift to community applications and community
  involvement in issues and problems
• Self-assembly of organizations and dynamic
  organizations
• What is the right infrastructure to support
  future work environments?

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Persistent Electronic Spaces

• Adding the concept of Persistent Electronic
  Spaces to the current suite of computer supported
  collaborative work tools can provide the virtual
  equivalent of instant and almost free
  interactions.
• Persistence is needed to
• build electronic communities
• relate the real world to distributed virtual
  environments
• Add a new dimension - add to the Phone Call
  model to include a Hangout Cafe model

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The Alliance Vision for the Grid

• Persistent, universal access to networked
  resources
• Common tools and infrastructure for 21st Century
  applications
• Integrating HPC, data intensive
• computing, remote visualization
• and advanced collaborations
• technologies

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What Can You Do with a Grid?

• Link real-time satellite data feeds with
  distributed computational and display systems
• Enable schools across the country to participate
  in interactive simulations and data analysis -
  and discuss it together
• Combine dozens of supercomputers to solve a
  single problem
• Interactively combine the output of many
  independent servers to analyze a new genome -
  then globally discuss the results
• Build a network of immersive virtual reality
  sites to collaboratively design a vehicle and
  test it at different sites
• Bring expert quality healthcare to remote Navajo
  villages

Colliding Galaxies (Smithsonian IMAX)-Donna Cox,
Bob Patterson, NCSA-From Cosmic
Voyage-Nominated for Academy Award 1997
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Access Grid Projects - Goals

• Enable group-to-group interactions at a distance
• Connect the people and teams of the Alliance and
  beyond
• Improve the user experience
• Provide an increased sense of presence
• Support natural human and instrument interaction
• Eliminate the boundaries of the monitor and the
  location
• Enable complex multisite visual and collaborative
  experiences
• Integrate with high-end visualization
  environments
• ActiveMural, Powerwall, CAVE Family, Flatland,
  Workbenches
• Build on integrated grid services architecture
• Develop new tools specifically to support group
  to group collaboration
• Use quality but affordable digital IP based
  audio/video
• Leverage Open Source IP tools
• Build from desktop to cave - high quality
  experiences

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Group-to-Group and/or Multi-individual
Interaction is Different

• Large-scale scientific and technical
  collaborations often involve multiple teams
  working together
• Group-to-group interactions are more complex than
  than individual-to-individual interactions
• Multi individual (gt3) conference calls are far
  more difficult than 2 party calls.
• The Access Grid projects in the Alliance
• explores and supports this more complex set of
  requirements and functions
• integrates and leverages desktop tools as needed

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Group-to-Group and/ or Multi-individual
Requirements

• Need to enable both subgroup and group
  communication
• Support multi-layered and simultaneous
  interactions
• Multiple private/group-private/back channels
• Integration of groupware tools/concepts with
  collaboration

Private
Public
Personal Channels
Subgroup Channels
Local
PrivateChannels
Global Channels
Remote
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Access Grid is Beyond Teleconferencing

• Physical spaces support distributed groupwork
• lighting, audio, video, screens
• Virtual collaborative venues
• strong metaphors for resource organization
• interaction scope management
• Agenda driven scenarios and work sessions
• lectures, brainstorming, demos, meetings,
  planning
• Integration with GRID services
• resource management, security, services,
  brokering
• Debut at Chautauqua 99 in August and Sept.
• Boston U, U Kentucky, and UNM
• ACCESS, Argonne, NCSA, EVL, Utah (supporting
  sites), etc.
• Chautauqua 2000 deployment
• EPSCoR and beyond

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Access Grid Studios/Nodes

• Access Grid Studios/Nodes
• Office
• Cafe, Library, Workshop
• ActiveMural Room
• Tneater, Auditorium

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Components of an AG Studio/Node
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Access Grid Generic Capabilities

• Functional Capabilities
• multiple video streams
• cameras
• capture/codecs
• multiple audio streams
• microphones
• speakers/sound cards
• mixers/amps
• large-format displays
• multiple computer platforms

• Software Services
• display management
• collaboration software
• applications software
• venues

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Access Grid vs. Commercial Desktop Tools

• AG reaches beyond the desktop
• large format multi-screen for AG global channels
• room-scale hands free full-duplex audio
• AG can have many (gt6) active participants
• AG uses dedicated hardware
• multiple machines, separation of function, NT,
  Linux
• AG network uses IP multicast
• venues map to multicast groups
• AG software is Open Source
• extends and builds on community tools
• AG development is a community effort
• AG supports AG development today

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AG Near Term Developments

• Laptop tools integrated with AG communications
• floor control ,QA queues, remote presentation
• Multiple virtual venue support
• supporting multiple simultaneous sessions/events
• Improved ease-of-use
• linking windows to speakers via audio and visual
  cues
• simplified installation, test, and operations
  procedures
• CD quality spatialized audio experiments
• 44k stereo and 48k quad audio formats
• QoS testbed experiments
• Strong encryption on audio, video, control via
  PKI
• Desktop implementation where required

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AG Long Term Developments

• Integrated Visualization
• Cave - Immersive environments
• Flatland and others
• Improved Audio/Video Performance
• Adaptive algorithms
• Better synchronization
• Integration with H323
• Human Factors
• Sound localization
• Personal devices and studios

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AG Long Term Technical Developments an example

• Flatland (UNM - of course)
• Open visualization/virtual environments
  development tool
• Allows construction of and interaction with
  arbitrarily complex graphical and aural
  representations of data
• Linux/Unix, C/C, OpenGL, GLUT libraries
• Multithreaded system with dynamically linked
  libraries (DLL) to load user applications
• Documentation and training

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Visualizing a large data set within Flatland
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Integrating Visualization with the AG

• Merge output of Visualization tools into video
  streams in AG context
• Improved codecs
• Variable rate transmission schemes
• Partial rendering and pre-computation
• Transport of compressed images and videos
• Capture and distribute user interactions in
  visualization scenarios
• Shared Object Manipulation
• Visual, audio, and other cues

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AG Long Term Application Developments another
example

• TOUCH/Telemedicine (UNM - could have guessed)
• Combine teaching with HPC models and
  visualization
• Access Grid as delivery vehicle
• Brain trauma is first topic area
• Participants
• UNM School of Medicine and John Burns School of
  Medicine
• UNM HPCERC (AHPCC, MHPCC)
• University of Hawaii School of Engineering
• Sandia National Laboratories
• National Center for Functional Brain Research
• Northern Navaho Medical Center
• Maui Community College

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AG Status

• Today (5/30/2000)
• 20 Sites, 30 Studio/nodes
• By 9/1/2000 (best guess)
• 25 Sites, 35 Studio/nodes
• Chautauqua 2000
• OSC, June 13-15, 2000
• Kansas, August 1-3, 2000
• www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/alliance/chautauqua/
• EPSCoR NSF Project
• One in each of 20 EPSCoR states over three years
• Applications for training, education,
  collaboration, development
• How do I get a studio/node?
• Express interest
• Join a collaboration
• Work with an AG team member

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Questions?