Orion: “Ryerson lab experiments with next-generation videoconferencing”
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The AccessFabrik Lab has been experimenting with Access Grid technologies since 2004, shortly after the lab’s founding in 2003 and the emergence of the Access Grid in 2001.
An article published in Orion on January 2009, Ryerson lab experiments with next-generation videoconferencing, outlines Ryerson’s efforts in developing their project “New Tools for Collaborative Design and Communication” (also referred to as USWS, HD Collaborative Design Tools or CoMedia 2), which is an extension of the Access Grid open-source videoconferencing application.
Ryerson’s extensions on the Access Grid – with primary focus on the field of automotive engineering and manufacturing – provides high-definition visualization and remote desktop control. The technology in its entirety aims to create an interactive “shared space” environment that allows group-to-group communication and design. The project includes tools to provide real-time 3D design manipulation, captioning and translation in order to enable real-time interaction and reduce cultural barriers.
In partnership with Industrial partner Magna Closures Inc. and research partner Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering of Germany, the research initiative aims to improve shared desktop environments, collaborative visualization and integrate semantic technology.
Future goals for this project include efficient ways to achieve automated captioning, voice recognition and translation.
Source: http://www.orion.on.ca/newsletter/jan09/ryerson.html
AF Lab Gives Demonstration at CSCW 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Ron Rankine and Many Ayromlou of the AccessFabrik Lab presented a demo of the lab’s New Tools for Industrial Design and Communication at the ACM CSCW 2008 conference in San Diego, California from November 8th – 12th. The conference, which is centred on “Computer Supported Cooperative Work” and collaboration, looks to unravel the challenges and constructive implications of developing collaborative systems through various presentations from researchers and leaders of the field.
The demonstration detailed the lab’s work on shared spaced multimedia interaction, accomplished through a combination of remote desktop environments, videoconferencing, as well as live translation and captioning services among other things. The demo can be viewed here.
AF Lab Take Top Honours at AccessGrid Retreat
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Researchers at Ryerson University’s AccessFabrik Lab were honoured with the “Best Presentation” award at this year’s Access Grid retreat, which was held at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC from May 27 to 29.
The team’s presentation, entitled “New Tools for Collaborative Design and Communication”, highlighted over a year’s worth of work on extending the Access Grid – an open-source videoconferencing and shared-space platform – to enable high-definition visualization and remote desktop control.
The focal point of their talk was a live demonstration of the new tools, which allowed those presenting in Burnaby to interact remotely with the remainder of the team in Toronto and jointly manipulate automotive designs in HD with minimal delay.
Dr. Michael Murphy, Principal Investigator, was pleased with the team’s success, noting “this award is particularly meaningful because it was given to us by our fellow colleagues in the Access Grid research community, with whom we’ve enjoyed a very positive collegial relationship for some time.”
The team plans to continue prototyping the technology while also seeking new opportunities to apply their work to other industrial sectors. They will also work to disseminate their research to academic and professional communities.
Established in 2004 to undertake research projects in the world of interactivity and multimedia design, the AccessFabrik Lab is housed in Ryerson’s Rogers Communications Centre, and is presently comprised of Dr. Murphy, Many Ayromlou, Michael Dick, Michael Lawrie, Ron Rankine and Elaine Wong. Former members include Maayan Cohen, Roshini Dominic and Robert King.
Funding for this project was provided by the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Communications and Information Technology and the Rogers Communications Centre.