Molecular Visualization with Supports of Interaction, Immersion, and Collaboration among Geographically Separated Research Groups

Abstract

In the search for new drug and medication discovery, especially related to drug-receptor interaction, the importance of interaction among researchers is essential, either within the same room or dispersed throughout the world. The interaction in an online environment through the molecule shared view and information and ideas exchange via text and/or voice enable researchers to discuss molecule aspects under study, increasing the chances of reaching the new compound’s identification. In subsequent sections an architecture that uses concepts of Distributed Multiuser Virtual Reality, Computer-Supported Collaborative Work, and world-wide network communication techniques for creating a high performance system that allows real-time interaction among various geographically dispersed research groups studying molecular visualization and using hardware systems ranging from desktop to immersive systems as CAVEs is presented. Its construction was made possible by defining a structure based on local servers to each group, which communicate with each other on a remote network, and creating a protocol for communication among these servers that seeks agility to minimize the negative effects of packet loss and delay delivery, Internet characteristic problems.