<s>
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
is	O
a	O
collection	O
of	O
resources	O
and	O
technologies	O
that	O
enables	O
large	O
format	O
audio	O
and	O
video	O
based	O
collaboration	O
between	O
groups	O
of	O
people	O
in	O
different	O
locations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
is	O
an	O
ensemble	O
of	O
resources	O
,	O
including	O
multimedia	O
large-format	O
displays	O
,	O
presentation	O
and	O
interactive	O
environments	O
,	O
and	O
interfaces	O
with	O
grid	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
middleware	B-General_Concept
and	O
visualization	B-Application
environments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
simple	O
terms	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
advanced	O
videoconferencing	B-Application
using	O
big	O
displays	O
and	O
with	O
multiple	O
simultaneous	O
camera	O
feeds	O
at	O
each	O
node	O
(	O
site	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
Alliance	O
Chautauqua	O
99	O
"	O
,	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
two-day	O
conferences	O
on	O
computational	O
science	O
organised	O
by	O
the	O
NCSA	B-General_Concept
,	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
large-scale	O
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
event	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
was	O
later	O
demonstrated	O
at	O
Supercomputing'99	O
in	O
Portland	O
to	O
an	O
international	O
audience	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
users	O
tend	O
to	O
use	O
XMPP	B-Protocol
as	O
their	O
text-based	O
back-end	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Indeed	O
,	O
the	O
integrates	O
an	O
XMPP	B-Protocol
client	O
with	O
the	O
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
has	O
generated	O
great	O
interest	O
and	O
activity	O
in	O
Australia	O
,	O
where	O
factors	O
such	O
as	O
widely	O
disparate	O
geographic	O
locations	O
and	O
relatively	O
low	O
population-densities	O
have	O
previously	O
presented	O
great	O
obstacles	O
to	O
"	O
in-person	O
"	O
collaborations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Australia	O
's	O
first	O
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
node	O
was	O
built	O
at	O
in	O
August	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
2007	O
the	O
Australian	O
AG	O
network	O
has	O
grown	O
to	O
more	O
than	O
30	O
sites	O
serviced	O
by	O
Asia	O
Pacific	O
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
(	O
APAG	O
)	O
venue	O
servers	O
at	O
University	O
of	O
Sydney	O
(	O
AG2	O
)	O
and	O
University	O
of	O
Queensland	O
(	O
AG3	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2004	O
,	O
the	O
UQ	O
Vislab	O
began	O
providing	O
the	O
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
installation	O
packages	O
for	O
various	O
Linux	O
distributions	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
FreeBSD	O
,	O
to	O
the	O
wider	O
AG	O
community	O
,	O
although	O
intellectual	O
property	O
concerns	O
have	O
placed	O
the	O
future	O
of	O
the	O
Linux-based	O
technologies	O
into	O
doubt	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
UK	O
academic	O
community	O
support	O
for	O
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
Toolkit	O
,	O
IOCOM	O
and	O
EVO	O
technologies	O
on	O
JANET	O
is	O
provided	O
by	O
the	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
Access	B-Application
Grid	I-Application
(	O
AG	O
)	O
node	O
was	O
built	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Manchester	O
in	O
2001	O
,	O
with	O
Jisc-funded	O
support	O
from	O
the	O
(	O
AGSC	O
)	O
in	O
Manchester	O
from	O
April	O
2004	O
to	O
July	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
