Expressive real time communications

We have developed an interface, which allows online communication in a virtual environment. The interface brings together remotely located collaborating parties in a shared electronic space for their communication. In the current implementation of the interface, the participants can see every participant who is online at a glance. At the same time, the user can see all those who are engaged in communication. In the communication mode, the user can see a display of a facial image of the other person in communication. An important aspect of the interface is that it allows the user to display from a set of discrete expressions in the interface of the other person, remotely. Text to speech conversion has also been incorporated successfully. A shared whiteboard also allows the users to engage in collaborative working. We describe the existing implementation of the interface and discuss and expand on the issues involved in enhancing expressive communication