An integrated approach to shared synchronous groupware workspaces

A unified framework for multimedia shared workspaces and their associated floor control that treats both audio and video components uniformly is presented. To this end, a classification scheme is presented which groups the shared workspaces based on multiple orthogonal criteria. For visual displays, this includes the group-orientation of the applications, the organization of the display, and the contiguity relationships among display images. The same classification criteria are applied to the audio component, which considers the group-orientation of the audio channel, the organization of the speaker systems, and the contiguity relationships among the audible ranges of the speakers. The classification also covers the floor control concepts and design approaches. The classification is applied to a known groupware system, MERMAID, as a case study