P2P App Collaborates At The Data Level

Advanced Reality Inc., a start-up that evolved from a genomics research project, plans to launch a new peer-to-peer platform next month that will embed collaborative capabilities in existing applications.

The new product, called Presence-AR, allows users to share applications, ranging from Excel spreadsheets to imaging applications, without altering the source code of the application.

Advanced Reality officials said what makes their P2P (peer-to-peer) collaboration technology different from others in the market is that collaboration is done at the data level, rather than as an application that offers screen sharing, file sharing, whiteboards or instant messaging.

The Java-based program also leaves a small footprint, just 157 KB, officials said. Unique adaptors—application programming interfaces—are created for each application and users can create business rules to manage access control.

Advanced Reality, of Houston, is also developing a C# version of Presence-AR as well as a software development kit for building interfaces to the applications, officials said, though they did not give a release date for either.

The software can also be used in client-server configurations. The host of a given resource can be changed on the fly.

Presence-AR has SSL encryption for security and supports multiple authentication technologies, including passwords, PKI and smart cards.

Presence-AR is available now. Pricing ranges from $50,000 to $250,000 based on the complexity of the implementation.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in ExtremeTech.