ToolSpace: A next generation computing environment

A group of chemists each direct their web-browsers to a page containing an embedded virtual reality (VR) representation of a collection of molecules. Each chemist is represented in the VR world by an "avatar" reflecting position and view The molecule is not a simple ball-and-stick model; depicted is the solvent accessible surface (SAS) surrounding a protein that the chemists fold in real time. They manipulate and measure the structures using tools from a variety of different vendors. As more collaborators join, performance actually improves as each web browser loads an applet contributing to the SAS computation. Agents on the server coordinate computations amongst the dynamic pool of clients and act as interfaces to legacy software.