IP: Digital Carrel -- a project I am directing

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

"Those of us, who've wished for a way to work effectively with remote 
collaborators without long flights, will be interested in a project, which 
I am advising.  This development effort will create a unique workstation 
for knowledge work and shared access to documents and electronic 
tools.  The resulting hardware/software platform will enable professionals 
to carry on efficient working meetings from their home to any similarly 
equipped site in the world.

This systems concept was developed by Ira Laefsky, a former grad student at 
Penn, with technology integration experience at Arthur D. Little and 
Digital Equipment.  The concept has already received favorable attention 
from the NASA Ames Research Center and industry contacts in the computer 
and pharmaceutical industries.
> "The Digital Carrel is a novel workstation architecture to support 
> electronic intellectual work and collaboration in demanding analytical 
> tasks.  It will offer a flexible and sophisticated workplace for problem 
> solving by geographically dispersed teams, allowing them to simultaneously 
> create, process and manipulate the electronic documents, multimedia and 
> Internet resources now essential in intellectual and collaborative 
> activities.  This workstation will employ advanced software and display 
> technologies to create a common space where knowledge assets can be shared 
> and accessed effectively. It will enable remote team members to 
> communicate as effectively as in a face-to-face meeting, while being able 
> to view and interact with documents, images and objects at a physical desktop.
>
> The Digital Carrel will offer an attractive and ergonomically designed 
> workspace with high quality displays and input devices arranged to 
> facilitate natural conversation and effectiveness in reading, drawing, 
> document markup and review of graphical materials.  While the workstation 
> and user interface will present a uniquely suitable environment for 
> intellectual work, the underlying architecture can be assembled with 
> off-the-shelf microcomputer components and medium to broadband 
> communications.  This will allow users to share the documents and files 
> they create on conventional workstations and to employ existing 
> infrastructure."
>
>
> We are eager to hear from IP subscribers and organizations that might be 
> interested in the application or implementation of this project.  You can 
> reach Ira at laefsky () netaxs com; please include a contact phone number."
>
>  If you prefer you can contact me.
>
> Dave
>