ShareME - shared multimedia environments - some issues on interaction in distributed multimedia information environments

This paper describes the conceptualization and realization of a system called ShareME for information acquisition and distributed student-expert collaboration. ShareME is a tool for building distributed multimedia information environments based on a network of NeXT workstations. The central concepts are structuring mechanisms for multimedia information space, user-oriented interaction and collaboration methods for heterogenneous media (audio, video, telecommunication, shard screens), and explicit user interface metophors for multimedia environments for information acquisition on the new German states are described. Using the SharME tool and following the concepts presented allows the environment author to easily construct shard multimedia environments. In these environments the users can interact, communicate, collaborate, and acquire information in an intuitive and rewarding manner.