Floor Control and Remote Cameras

Videoconferencing doesn't allow for moderated discussions. For multi-participant meetings, there is no way to stop everyone from talking at once. The goal of the floor control project is to allow an individual to moderate meetings and control "who has the floor."

The objectives of floor control are:

• Integrate mechanisms for scalable floor control into the Mbone tool architecture
• Allow meetings to occur over the Web
• Develop two prototype coordination tools:
• Moderated meeting tool
• Consensus meeting
• Integrate floor management into session management

In addition, videoconferencing often requires the meeting's host to run cameras and other equipment to allow remote users to participate. This disrupts the meeting's flow and frustrates remote users. The goal of the remote camera project is to provide remote collaborators with the ability to receive and control media at any time, a sense of telepresence, media tools (video/audio), and the ability to "walk around" the remote space.

The objectives of remote camera control are

• Allow participants at each site to control conference room cameras
• Allow participants at each site to control video/audio tools in the conference room
• Develop easy-to-use uniform interface to media tools

These projects are being done at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

For more info, see:

• Project review: remote camera (May 2000)
• Akenti Distributed Access Control
• Camera Remote Control Command Language
• Distributed Systems Department Collaboration Technologies Group: LBNL
• Remote Control for Videoconferencing: LBNL