ABSTRACT
A number of videoconferencing applications have been reported. One of the most ambitious is the Multimedia Integrated Conferencing for Europe programme, a £5 million RACE-supported project. This is a large experiment to test interworking between European and US researchers using multimedia facilities. Videoconferencing has been used between Bellcore at Redbank USA, and high school students temporarily situated at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Bellcore decided that clearly displayed facial expressions made interpretation easier so large screens were used. Whitehead reports a successful medical application of video-conferencing for consultation and training at remote locations. A medical application has been used at the Kaiser-Permante Medical Group in California to help acrophobics to overcome their fear of heights. ‘Virtual Library’ is also the label for a more nebulous concept reflecting the notion of the ‘electronic book’ and the possibility of providing information over a telecommunication network. Newby discusses the Virtual Library ideas put forward in the literature.
