MULTIMEDIA AND MULTIPARTY DESK-TOP CONFERENCE SYSTEM - MERMAID AS GROUPWARE PLATFORM

This paper describes the configuration, service functions, usage examp les and evaluation results of a distributed multimedia and multi-party desktop conference system: MERMAID. MERMAID was developed early 1989 as the world first and the most advanced multimedia groupware platform . MERMAID allows a group of widely-dispersed users to conduct a meetin g from their desktop workstations and personal computers. They can mak e a presentation and hold a discussion through full-media real-time in terchange and sharing. MERMAID provides the cooperative application co ntrol function as well as the conferencing support function. This make s it possible to effectively support a wide range of group work and gl obal collaboration. MERMAID has already been used in daily research wo rk for more than five years, and has been installed in more than 200 c ustomers outside NEC since it was commercialized in 1993. Some evaluat ion results are briefly discussed based on five-year-long user experie nces.