Mr. Greg Trueb
Purdue University

My name is Gregg Trueb, an Electrical and Computer engineering undergraduate student at The Ohio State University. I am currently doing research over the summer with Prasad Calyam, a Senior Systems Developer/Engineer at OARnet, a division of the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC). My involvement with Prasad Calyam and OSC is centered on a research project dealing with issues of collaborative technologies using high definition video. The project will be done in collaboration with Suzanne Lammers, fellow REU student and will include investigation into the current and future use of high definition video conferencing, traffic characteristics, and security concerns, and the overall usability and reliability. At the end of the project’s term, a final report will be written detailing the findings and my conclusions on the future of high definition videoconferencing technology.

The main focus of this research is to evaluate aspects that may or may not hinder a collaboration technology’s usefulness. Issues such as usability, which pertains to the different situations that the technologies will be used in, will be studied. This information will be obtained by contacting personnel that use, will use, or potentially will use this technology on a regular basis. Targeted personnel are those who work in distance learning, such as CAD instructors and hospital teaching teams, and business who conduct meetings between physically separated offices who would potentially benefit form high definition videoconferencing technology. By obtaining information such as the potential uses, problems and biggest concerns, as well as the general attitude toward the technology, realistic situations will be modeled and testbeds constructed. Using these testbeds, the traffic characteristics will be examined to study the differences between high definition and non-high definition videoconferencing in each of the different situations. Adding to this will be the effect of security situations such as firewall/NAT traversal. Using solutions such as GNU Gatekeeper and the Polycom VTIU4300T unit available at OSC, the relative security effects will be measured and evaluated. Using the data from the tests and the results of the interviewed personnel, the usability and future outlook of high definition conferencing will be evaluated and presented.

I plan to present my research findings at the annual Distance Teaching and Learning conference in Madison, Wisconsin. There, I will actively provide visitors with useful information on high-definition videoconferencing and other forms of collaboration tools from our research. The use of which I hope will go to further advancing the art of teaching and cooperation that may require such technologies. Also I hope to establish contacts for research and other opportunities in the future.

What I hope to get out of this REU program is a multilevel experience. First, it will improve my research skills by participating in an open ended project. Second, it will improve my presentation and writing skills. Lastly, it will be provide with working experience in a research environment so that I may be more qualified for research and job opportunities in the future. This project should go far in helping me improve the above areas and to hopefully be one of the many things I contribute to the advancement of science and technology.