Given by Geoffrey C. Fox at ECS Advisory Board Meeting on 29 March 1996. Foils prepared 6 April 1996
Abstract * Foil Index for this file
See also color IMAGE
We discuss NPAC, staffing strategy and major thrusts in: |
Finance, HealthCare, Education, IntraNets and Entertainment |
We briefly describe the overarching WebWindows framework |
The actual talk was accompanied by several live demonstrations |
This table of Contents Abstract
Presentation to College of Engineering and Computer Science Advisory Board |
March 29, 1996 |
Geoffrey Fox |
NPAC |
Syracuse University |
111 College Place |
Syracuse NY 13244-4100 |
We discuss NPAC, staffing strategy and major thrusts in: |
Finance, HealthCare, Education, IntraNets and Entertainment |
We briefly describe the overarching WebWindows framework |
The actual talk was accompanied by several live demonstrations |
Geoffrey Fox - Director |
Gene Woodcock -- Executive Director |
Denny Eaton - InfoMall MidHudson |
Steve Warzala -- Manager InfoMall |
All our work -- whether research or development -- must be World Class |
Ensure International quality by working in federally funded research projects with the best people world-wide
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Focus on Industrial outreach to ensure that our work is down to earth and useful |
Teach students the very latest high performance computing technologies |
Deliver education with best available computer and network technologies
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In future one will NOT write software for either
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Rather one will write software for WebWindows defined as the operating environment for World Wide Web |
WebWindows builds on top of Web Servers and Web Client open interfaces as in
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Applications written for WebWindows will be portable to all computers running Web Servers or Clients which hide hardware and native O/S specifics |
Further WebWindows Software will be modular and allow plug and play insertion of capabilities developed around the Web World -- not a bunch of isolated stovepipe solutions
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As an example NPAC's WebTools implements UNIX shell/PC file manager capabilities in terms CGI scripts -- allows universal access to these capabilities including powerful Web based mh mail |
NPAC's WebFoil is HotJava Open replacement for Powerpoint/Persuasion |
Particular Application areas (Business, Healthcare, Education) will be built on top of generic NII services so that for instance
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Will Windows NT take over the world and swamp UNIX?
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The WebWindows concept says that NT versus UNIX isn't the key issue -- rather most software will not be written for NT, UNIX, MVS, VMS etc but rather to "Web Interfaces" |
One can expect that a new class of optimized operating systems will be developed that are designed solely to support web interfaces and web technology
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Timing of these trends is unclear and could be critical |
There are evolving/confusing/overlapping capabilities ... |
Financial Industry -- Integration of HPCC modelling with Web Information Systems |
HealthCare -- from Medical databases to Home Healthcare |
Education -- Both curriculum (teach modern computer science as continuing education) and delivery technology |
IntraNets -- Web-based Business Information Systems -- Systems Integration |
Entertainment -- storage and delivery of multimedia information |
HTML Forms, PERL(5), Java, VRML |
Terrain Rendering -- using VRML open system |
Database -- Relational<-->Web Interface, Web Search |
Base WebTop Productivity Tools -- WebTools |
Video Servers -- Streaming Video with Text indexed video from programming and close captions |
Audio Servers and Audio/Video Page Linkage |
Compression -- Wavelet targeted at ISDN(?) |
Collaboration -- Integration of commercial Video conferencing |
ISDN and ATM and other HPCC Infrastructure |
Compute enhanced WebServers -- RSA Factoring, AVS on the Web, Multithreaded distributed simulation |
WebFoil Presentation/Lecturing Support-- Open HotJava Replacement for Powerpoint/Persuasion
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wwwfoil -- Manage Presentations on the web, link WebFoil with existing Powerpoint and Persuasion presentations |
Systems Integration
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Collaborative Environments
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Living SchoolBook with 3 schools connected by ATM to NPAC -- excellent content, SU School of Education, Teacher Partnership |
Science for the 21st Century -- Science for non Scientists taught using (partially) Web Modules with growing student interest (currently 250 enrolled) |
Graduate/Continuing Education -- 4 courses and several Related Tutorials on the Web |
Education in a Box -- Web based Certificate in Computational Science offered at graduate level to initial group of students in China |
HPCC and Parallel Computing Consulting -- Develop resources to help NSF supercomputer centers consultants -- partiucularly interesting for resolicitation with distributed centers |
Interfaces for disabled as by product of home health care project |
The Living Schoolbook is a New York State funded Initiative to create K-12 educational applications that exploit leading information technologies |
Living Schoolbook Base Educational Services are:
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Living Schoolbook Leverages Information Technologies
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The Project Team
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Upstate Project Schools
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Downstate (New York City) Project Schools
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askERIC Educational Database for teachers with consultation |
The Discovery Channel -- Video Content Provider |
NewsBank -- Text Content Provider |
Reuters News Service |
Syracuse Language Systems -- Learn Foreign Languages on Demand |
TravelVenture -- Interactive travel information on Demand |
US Air Force Rome Laboratory -- InfoVision technologies |
WorldView Corp. : Interactive Client-Server Geographic Information System |
General science for non-science majors (4 cr.) |
Interdisciplinary Approach |
Modular Structure |
Principles and Concepts |
Active Learning |
Lectures (3/week) |
Demonstrations |
Recitation / Lab (1/week) |
Team Projects |
WEB-Based Learning |
Scientific Literacy |
Modules which include Web page(s):
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From Meryem Ispirli |
FLAG is an enterprise in which NYNEX Network Systems Company is a major (roughly 40%) investor. |
Current fiber link from U.K. to Japan (via Africa) is being constructed at an approximate $1.4B cost |
Natural Strategy is for Web Servers in U.S.A.. to deliver educational material via FLAG to Africa and Far East |
This would set up hierarchically as:
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Real-Time Compression critical for interactive use of FLAG as lines are costly -- note Internet is free but needs compression as overloaded .... |
Certificate in Computational Science offered at Harbin Institute of Technology (China) Spring 1996 -- started March 1,1996 -- is a prototype of Syracuse University extension school |
Although Internet Connections to China are not guaranteed to be great(!) we can still use Web Technology but assume that Electronic Course material will be packaged at NPAC(SU) in a Pentium PC running WindowsNT and Java
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This will be updated in batch mode by Syracuse -- China Connection |
Students in China will Interact with mentors in China and with NPAC via Internet (web and email) |
Project designed by Fox,Leskiw(NPAC), Xiaoming Li(Harbin and Peking visiting NPAC) |
Graduate Students -- initially 5 guinea pigs |
4 Courses -- each 10 1 hour lectures -- offered Spring 1996 over 20 week period |
ICPS 700: Introduction to Simulation Track of Computational Science
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ICPS 701: Parallel Programming Laboratory
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ICPS710: World Wide Web Technology
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ICPS711: Web Programming
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We are experimenting with home care terminals based on David Warner's "neat thing" sensory front-end, with rehabilitation and disabilities as initial application target.
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This allows Doctors to interact with Patients at the Home with Instruments monitoring their health |
But it also allows Disabled access to Web and to Education on the Web as "neat thing" allow us to replace Mouse/Key board input with any measurable human signal |
For structured data at least, we have full control over both Patient and User Interface.
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There are several clear analogies between medical and education infomation systems and indeed we built a patient record database using similar JavaScript technology to that developed for WebFoil |
TeleMedicine -- Video Conferencing -- evolving to Medical Interventional Informatics -- a full interactive rich (Web) environment |
K-12 School Nurse - Web based patient record database with links to medical information (diagnosis, treatment) and 3 hierarchy levels:
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Naturally synergistic with Teacher -- School of Education etc. Interactions |
Rome Laboratory Collaborative and Interactive Visualization Jan 31,96 |
Rome Laboratory Collaborative and Interactive Visualization Jan 31,96 |
Rome Laboratory Collaborative and Interactive Visualization Jan 31,96 |