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Q. What new things does the high bandwidth of the I-Net make possible?
A. The I-Net allows people to use their computers for the following:
Interactive video and audio:
-- Use a computer to take a class from the Pittsburgh Public Schools, the Carnegie libraries and museums, a college, WQED or a Community Technology Center.
-- Conduct a county-wide field trip to the Carnegie Museum without leaving the classroom, home or office.
-- Include hundreds of classrooms in a live, interactive interview or talk by a visiting scholar.
-- Broadcast community sporting events, concerts, public meetings, and after-school plays and art exhibitions with live videoconferencing.
-- Participate in government meetings or public meetings on topics such as stadium construction and the Fifth and Forbes projects, all without crossing a bridge, going through a tunnel, or stepping out into the snow.
-- Exercise with a trainer by video-conference at your local community center and ask questions of a visiting doctor or nurse.
Video and Audio Servers:
-- Search an Internet archive of City and County Council meetings and other public meetings and watch a taped meeting at your convenience.
-- Capture a community's history and engage students and senior citizens with oral and video history interviews with local residents to be stored on video and audio servers.
-- Search an Internet archive of health information and watch a video to help you decide whether to have surgery or less intrusive medical treatment.
-- Visit an arts display hosted at a local community center or a local or international museum.
High Speed Large Volume Data Transfers:
-- Download movies, software and large databases.
-- Ship X-rays, MRIs, and other medical records quickly from health care facilities to local health clinics.
Q. How might the I-Net change lives?
-- A seamless web of learning: A child’s learning projects can be accessed from any computer anywhere. Children can work on schoolwork anywhere -- accessing school and library resources. A child sick at home or in the hospital can participate in class without being in class.
-- Increased community involvement in public policy.
-- Health care to people not likely to seek it: People not otherwise likely to seek health care and with limited literacy could talk to a doctor or nurse or watch health care videos at local community centers.
-- Greater sense of community and identity.