Heterogeneous client-server architecture for a virtual meeting environment

Abstract

Magic Lounge is a shared virtual meeting environment which has been designed to support meetings between physically remote people who would like to interact with each other using any one of a number of heterogeneous communication devices. This paper describes the heterogeneous client-server architecture of the Magic Lounge which supports communication between PCs, PDAs, palmtops, and mobile telephones. This architecture combines a number of different technologies, including CORBA and MBone, to provide the necessary means of audio and textual communication between the users of different devices. This paper also discusses the various requirements of this type of meeting environment, as well as describing some of the Magic Lounge software tools and components which have been developed to provide intelligent communication services to its users.