Unforeseen circumstances are bound to happen, especially when computers are involved. Some research has been done by Sun Microsystems toward developing an application that is suited to delivering interactive presentations to distributed audiences. This research prototype is called Forum. Forum is specifically designed to facilitate lecture mode interactions. Roles of lecturer and student are clearly defined, and the two types of participants have different user interfaces and different capabilities.
Students receive audio, video and slides from the lecturer.
They are able to interact with the lecturer through a poll, a spoken question, or written comments. Lecturers receive audio and a still snapshot of a student asking a question. Both the lecturer and students can see a list of who is in attendance and the results of polls. These features are valuable because they increase the amount and ease of interaction between the lecturer and students as well as interaction among students.