Elvin Instrumented Applications

Student: Aaron John Wolski

Supervisor: Dr. Peter Sutton

Category: Software Engineering Thesis Project

The introduction of networking technologies has allowed the creation of distributed computing environments. New forms of collaboration have arisen such that colleagues can simultaneously work on tasks whether seperated by walls or large distances. The user-desired properties of tools that enable this, so called Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW), has experienced considerable research revealing mixed approaches.

Elapse is an architecture that attempts to grasp the important requirements of CSCW systems as specified in previous designs. The primary focus is not to develop a tool that allows collaborative work but to provide the user with awareness information gathered from their working environment. The information is derived from a user's actions on participating workstations and distributed using DTSC's Elvin notification service. It can be interpreted to evoke a more human response with personal interactivity or legacy applications instead of restrictive tools. The verbosity of information raises concerns of privacy and security that can be dealt with using Elvin mechanisms and configurable group policies.

Poster Presentation (PDF)

Thesis Document (PDF)