HIT Lab NZ and the Social Science Research Centre are joining forces to take video conferencing over KAREN to the next level.

This Capability Build funded project brings together three key projects to bring next generation video conferencing to New Zealand researchers and their national and international collaborators.

Centre of excellence for video conferencing

HIT Lab NZ and the Social Science Research Centre will work together to establish a Centre for Video Conferencing Mediated Collaborative Knowledge to research new technologies and explore new ways of collaborating through high definition video conferencing over KAREN.

The Centre will establish an international research collaboration with the High Definition Lab and Research Channel at the University of Washington that is researching high definition streaming. They will also connect with the National Centre for eSocial Science in the UK to explore the social shaping that takes place through the use of these new technologies.

“These international research collaborations will open the door to next generation conferencing nationally and internationally, establishing New Zealand researchers as equal partners in the global research environment”, said Nathan Gardiner, IT Manager, HIT Lab NZ.

HIT Lab will also work on a collaborative project with Mobile Surgical Services to develop telemedicine approaches using KAREN. This will include experimenting with remote surgery and training via video conferencing.

The centre of excellence will provide ongoing advice, support and demonstrations of practices and technologies to KAREN members interested in exploring high definition solutions over KAREN, including Access Grid, EVO, and ConferenceXP.

Video conferencing on show

In a related activity, HIT Lab will evaluate and demonstrate the relatively low-cost high definition IP-based video conferencing system, LifeSize.

“KAREN has enabled a gigantic leap forward in capabilities and a totally new experience of video conferencing over IP.  People are genuinely amazed when they see these developments for themselves, and we are excited to be able to showcase this to the KAREN community”, said Nathan.

eResearch enabling Access Grid

In the third piece of the puzzle HIT Lab NZ and the Social Science Research Centre will work together to introduce enhanced recording middleware to the New Zealand Access Grid.

Social research will explore the interconnections of people ad technologies during Advanced Video Conferencing sessions to understand how this reshapes research practices.

Recording and annotating middleware will be developed to capture and record all Access Grid video and audio streams. This middleware will provide important scientific data on the effective use of Access Grid for supporting eResearch and the development of ‘best practice’ guidelines to improve the use of Access Grid for eResearch here and overseas.  The recordings could also be used as teaching and demonstration tools.

“Groups within New Zealand universities, particularly those that are part of the BRCCS Network, have been using Access Grid for some time now for collaborative seminars and learning activities. The recording of meetings will allow us to explore the social-cultural practices at play, and use this information to build capabilities for conducting Access Grid-based collaborative research”, said David Thorns, Director, Social Sciences Research Centre, University of Canterbury.

Nathan says the project will also have the wider benefit of increasing our understanding of the role of middleware in enhancing video collaboration tools and applications available over KAREN.

More information

http://avcc.karen.net.nz
http://www.ssrc.canterbury.ac.nz/research/virtual/virtual_tech.shtml
http://www.hitlabnz.org