A collaborative environment for users of advanced scientific instruments

The paper proposes a different solution for a virtual collaborative environment for scientific research. The solution is the outcome of a project by Dutch, Swiss and English students, using brainstorms, idea generation, research, engineering skills and communication skills in a product development project in close co-operation with industry. Sharing data, sharing scientific instruments and the communication between diverse users are embedded in this virtual collaborative environment for scientific research. Instead of using the traditional desktop and mouse pointer a different solution is proposed to make it easier to fulfill complicated tasks at the same time.