The AudioChat tool is basically an audio based forum. Participants in a Habanero session can use this tool to communicate with each other in an organized manner.  The AudioChat tool maintains a queue of users who wish to speak, ensures that only the first person in the queue can speak at any given time, and provides information on the users who are in the queue.

The user interface and the collaborative aspects of the AudioChat tool are written in java, while the low level audio code is written in C for several different platforms.

Features:

• Supported on Win32 (NT/95), Solaris, and Irix
• The tool can be used any number of times in a given session
• AudioChat is fully compatible with the built in Habanero Capture/Replay process
• A person can start and stop speaking any number of times while at the top of the queue
• Telephone quality audio with half-duplex interface
• Uses GSM compression to reduce size and frequency of network transmission without loss in quality
• Does not affect use of other tools that are non-audio related
• Can be used in conjunction with Capture/Replay to create useful demo sessions with high levels of detail
• Faster than typing for sentences longer than a few words
• Mute button to avoid listening to some people
• The ability for a master to have overall control of a session, such as the ability to stop a person from speaking and the functionality to boot people from the queue

• Ongoing testing regarding the size of the audio data chunk

• Fixing the aforementioned bugs
• The ability to select between different formats of compression and encoding
• A new user interface
• Overhaul of the engine to make it more robust

This software (bytecode only) is included in the NCSA Habanero distribution package as a technology demonstration.

 
Original Author: Pierre Paour (NCSA)
Major Revisions: Mario Felarca (NCSA) - Java side and all native code
Native Code: Win32 - Mario Felarca (NCSA)
                        Solaris - Pierre Paour (NCSA)
                        Irix - John Wu (NCSA), Pierre Paour (NCSA)

Copyright 1996/97 University of Illinois Usage and license terms explained in NCSA Habanero Licensing Information.

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