Desktop conferencing-you see what I see

The time is right for the emergence of widespread, desktop conferencing. Desktop conferencing uses communications networks and computer systems to support work between individuals. It merges video conferencing, teleconferencing, and the personal computer. It links together two or more people sitting at their desks and uses their workstations for immediate sharing of visual and audible information. The authors describe some key concepts, high-light important inhibitors to widespread desktop conferencing and indicate technology trends which underwrite a vision of pervasive desktop conferencing by the mid 1990s. This is a new area which will encounter many of today´s boundaries, for example: computer systems vs. traditional office tools; visual data vs. audio data, personal work vs. collaborative work. Determining which conventions will gain acceptance and permit desktop conferencing to reach critical mass is an active topic for investigation and research