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The Access Grid. An Introduction. Rick Stevens, Terry Disz, Lisa Childers, Bob Olson Argonne National Laboratory www.mcs.anl.gov/fl/accessgrid (fl-info@mcs.anl.gov). Origins of the Access Grid. Applications. Apps Tools. Middleware. Networking. Resources. Evolution of the Grid Concept.
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The Access Grid An Introduction Rick Stevens, Terry Disz, Lisa Childers, Bob Olson Argonne National Laboratory www.mcs.anl.gov/fl/accessgrid (fl-info@mcs.anl.gov)
Applications Apps Tools Middleware Networking Resources Evolution of the Grid Concept • Metacomputing: late 80s • Focus on distributed computation • Gigabit testbeds: early 90s • Research, primarily on networking • I-WAY: 1995 • Demonstration of application feasibility • PACIs (National Technology Grid): 1997 • NASA Information Power Grid: 1999 • ASCI DISCOM: 1999 • DOE Science Grid: 2001 • Commercial Startups
Related Work • Berkeley and LBNL’s Mbone Tools (Jacobson et al.) • Xerox PARC MOO and Jupiter Projects (Curtis, et al.) • Argonne/NEU’s Labspace Project (Evard/Stevens et al.) • EVL’s CAVERsoft (DeFanti, Leigh, et al.) • ANL’s CAVEcomm and ManyWorlds (Stevens et al.) • ANL and ISI Globus Project (Foster, Kesselman et al.) • UNC’s Office of the Future (Fuchs et al.) • DOE’s Collaboratory Pilots (Zalusec et al.)
Some Questions We are Interested In • What kinds of future collaboration environments are possible? • How might teleimmersion enhance scientific collaborations? • What is the value of persistence and spatial metaphors in collaboration and virtual environments? • How can we cost-effectively improve group oriented collaboration environments ? • What is needed from networking and middleware infrastructure to effectively support wide area collaboration and distributed visualization ? • What are good software architectures to enable collaborative work systems?
Our Approach • Attack Research Questions in the context of real world experience • Build Working Infrastructure as well as Prototype Software • Involve multiple groups in deployment, use and research • Participate (lead) in directions for new uses and applications • Release software early and often (use open source model) • Contribute to the Community Code base
Physical Node Design Presenter mic • Spaces for small groups • Wide field of view • Comfortable • Persistent connection Presenter camera Ambient mic (tabletop) Audience camera
Audio • Hands free • No click to talk • No searching for microphones • Never have to think about microphones • Interactive • Interrupt other speakers • Multiple conversations at the same time • Full duplex • Clear • No background noise • Rich-sounding speech • No feedback • No echo
Video • Scale of imagery life-sized • Highest quality, but affordable • Multiple video streams • Presenter close-up • Audience view • Audience close-up • Display wall
Data • Shared • Powerpoint • VNC • Visualization • Archived • Voyager
Network • Hardening multicast infrastructure • http://beaconserver.accessgrid.org:9999/ • Large-scale networking testbed • Higher bandwidth • QoS • Networking people active members of the AG community
The Muds • Two muds are used in the AG community • Access Grid Hangout Room • Character generation is controlled • Characters reside there permenantly • Long-term social relationships have developed • Access Grid Venue • Character generation is automatic • Characters come and go • Usage is event-driven
Virtual Collaboration Spaces Virtual Venue • A persistent location on the grid • Not a physical space • A dimension in which several physical spaces can be co-located • A place that can be entered and exited • Supports multiple interaction modalities • Text, audio, video graphics, animation, VR • A scoping mechanism to support multiple concurrent meetings • A resource that can be reserved
The Workspace Docking Concept Private Workspaces - Docked into the Group Workspace
Access Grid Project Goals • Enable Group-to-Group Interaction and Collaboration • Connecting People and Teams via the Grid • Improve the User Experience: Go Beyond Teleconferencing • Provide a Sense of Presence • Support Natural Interaction Modalities • Use Quality but Affordable Digital IP Based Audio/video • Leverage IP Open Source Tools • Enable Complex Multisite Visual and Collaborative Experiences • Integrate With High-end Visualization Environments • ActiveMural, Powerwall, CAVE Family, Workbenches • Build on Integrated Grid Services Architecture • Develop New Tools Specifically Support Group Collaboration