1. ACCESS GRID Group to Group Collaboration Gurhan Gunduz Computational Science and Information Technology. Florida State University

2. What is AG?(1) The Access Grid is a system that enables group to group collaboration across the internet by providing multiple video and audio streams among them. It is designed in Argonne National Laboratories. The Access Grid consists of many AG nodes around the country. Currently there are almost 20 nodes in US.

3. What Is AG?(2) The access grid project focus is to enable groups of people to interact with grid resources and to use the grid technology to support group to group collaboration at a distance Improved the user experience Provide a sense of presence Support natural interaction modalities

4. Ambient mic (tabletop) Presenter mic Presenter camera Audience camera Access Grid Basics Designed spaces for group interactions Hands free high quality audio Multiple video and audio streams Large format displays Shared PowerPoint

5. Networking Wide-area IP multicasting. Four video and one audio streams from each AG node. Network monitoring is crucial

6. AG Node Access Grid nodes are "designed spaces" that explicitly contain the high-end audio and visual technology needed to provide a high-quality compelling user experience. Sound Echo Cancel box speakers (2) Microphones Cameras Projectors PC’s

7. AG Node Equipment – PC’s 4 PC’s Display Machine Audio Capture Machine Video Capture Machine Control machine

8. Components of an AG Node Display Computer Video Capture Computer Audio Capture Computer Mixer Echo Canceller Network RGB Video NTSC Video Analog Audio Digital Video Digital Audio Shared App, Control Computer RS232 Serial

9. References http://www.mcs.anl.gov/fl/accessgrid/