Exploiting networks for visualization and collaboration: no network roadblocks?

and collaboration using high speed networking, multimedia and interactive computer graphics techniques. Efforts among researchers, programmers, and artists (i.e. Renissance Teams) to use the new National Information Infrastructure (NII) as well as international telecommunication systems are featured. Software tools which support collaborative visualization across heterogenous platforms for research, education and commerical purposes are highlighted. Collaborative computing involves facilitating information discovery and scientific visualization activities between researchers located at various remote sites. It includes the use of visualization and information retrieval in a high speed networked environment. Computing resources become transparently available to researchers via the networked environment and this results in a metacomputer. Some collaborations involve interdisciplinary teams focused on solving a single problem while others encompass the sharing of different methodologies and resulting solutions to similar problems. Positive aspects associated with these high speed networked collaborations center on real time visualization and information discovery among geographically remote research or Renaissance Teams. There are also negative impacts or roadblocks associated with metacomputing. Network transmission difficulties and differences in desktop workstation architectures can cloud the actual visualization two collaborating researchers are simultaneously viewing and steering. Setting up and learning to use the metacomputing infrastructure can be all consuming and thus refocus the basic education or scientific discovery process. Various perspectives on these concerns are debated by the panelists.