Access Grid connects collaborators, earns R&D 100 Award
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ARGONNE, Ill. (Aug. 17, 2007) — After a vision nearly 10 years ago to build
a system to enable group-to-group collaboration using scalable computing and
networking technology, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne
National Laboratory have been honored with an R&D 100 Award for their resulting
product, Access Grid 3.0.
Access Grid 3 software uses open-source standards and Internet technology
to create a collaborative environment in which users can see and hear each
other as they navigate the space. According to Thomas Uram, one of the key
developers of the software, “The central goal of the Access Grid is to establish
an environment for cooperative work between remote participants and their digital
media, a situation that is essential to address in a world where more people
from more places are working together.”
The system is built on a paradigm of virtual meeting rooms, or “Virtual Venues.” Upon
entering a Venue, one can participate in a number of activities as if all users
were in the same room together. The software is designed to provide a natural
feel, where users can see and hear one another, with video projected on a large
display wall.
More than just videoconferencing, the Access Grid enables participants to
share and interact with files and applications. The open nature of the Access
Grid software has attracted thousands of users from around the world and has
encouraged numerous commercial and research institutions to extend the software
for their purposes.
Though competitive systems have videoconferencing capabilities, the Access
Grid is the first of its kind to offer a free, extensible open- source collaborative
environment. Further, the system is scalable, in that the number of video streams
sent and displayed is limited only by the number of available machines and
network bandwidth.
Applications of the software have included such diverse areas as computer
science, surgical instruction, biology, climatology and game development. In
one notable instance, fusion researchers in California used the Access Grid
to successfully lead experiments at a fusion research facility in the United
Kingdom . Via the Access Grid, the scientists were able to compare experimental
data and make rapid decisions about parameter changes for the next plasma pulse
experiment.
The Access Grid enables communications among remote collaborators with the
feeling of "being there." This capability is particularly salient
today given the emphasis on carbon reduction. Researchers can work together
naturally, seeing and talking with each other and sharing materials, while
incurring a lower carbon load by avoiding unnecessary travel.
Access Grid 3 was first released in May 2006. The software is available to download
from the project Web site, www.accessgrid.org .
Supported platforms include Windows, Linux and OSX.
Argonne National Laboratory brings
the world's brightest scientists and engineers together to find exciting and
creative new solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology.
The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic
and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne
researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities,
and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific
problems, advance America 's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for
a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed
by UChicago
Argonne, LLC for
the U.S.
Department of Energy's Office
of Science.
For more information, please
contact Steve McGregor (630/252-5580 or media@anl.gov)
at Argonne.
Story by Jenny deAngelis
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