Flexible User Interfaces for Group Collaboration

... This article presents the design and implementation of a user interface for DISCIPLE, a platform-independent telecollaboration framework. DISCIPLE supports sharing of Java components that are imported into the shared workspace at run-time and can be interconnected into more complex components. As a result, run-time interconnection of various components allows user tailoring of the human-computer interface. Software architecture for customization of both a group-level and application-level interfaces is presented, with interface components that are loadable on demand. The architecture integrates the sensory modalities of speech, sight, andtouch.Insteadofimposingone "right" solutionontousers,theframework lets users tailor the user interface that best suits their needs. Finally, laboratory experience with DISCIPLE tested on a variety of applications with the framework is discussed along with future research directions.