July 11, 2002
Labscape: Demonstration planned for next Advanced Application Forum July 18
Some people may find it surprising, but biology laboratories and the experiments conducted there have long been resistant to computerization. For the most part, individual technicians or students have made copies of the experiment protocol and then made laboratory notes and collected data by hand. Later the data would be combined in a computer.
A new system being developed at the UW for managing work in biology laboratories provides workers with individual touch-screen workstations linked in a network. Labscape, as the system is called, is being tested in a small configuration at the Cell Systems Initiative laboratory. A group of students at Ballard High School have also worked with the system.
It incorporates live and recorded video, simulations, interaction and distributed instruction. Some have called it the first step toward the biology classroom of the future.
Labscape’s developer, Larry Arnstein, UW affiliate assistant professor of computer science and engineeriung, will make a presentation next week at the Health Sciences Center. Lisa Jenschke, project manager for online education in the Department of Bioengineering, will also be speaking.
The presentation is the third in a series of Health Sciences Advanced Application Forums, designed as an informational series to reveal the potential of the high-performance Internet to open avenues for advances in research, medical care and teaching. The forums are arranged by UWired Health Sciences.
The Labscape demonstration and discussion will be from noon to 1:20 p.m., Thursday, July 18, in room T-625 of the Health Sciences Center. The program is free and no registration is required.
Future Advanced Applications Forums are set for
Sept. 19 (“The High Performance Network” with David Richardson of UW Computing & Communications) and Nov. 21 (“Video Production for National Audiences” with Tim Lorang and Chris Redner of UWTV). Both will be at the noon hour in the Health Sciences Center.
More information on UWired Health Sciences is at the Web site http://www.washington.edu/uwired/projects/uwiredhs.shtml. The Labscape site is http://labscape.cs.washington.edu/
A new Web site, with more information about advanced networks and applications at the UW and elsewhere, is now available at http://www.washington.edu/oep/i2/
