ChatApps - searchable interactive applications
ChatApps is an Open-Source framework to build, deploy and run searchable, workflow based applications.
Now if this just doesn't tell you anything, please check out the Demo page first, before you read on. An example is often telling more then a hundred words...
How it works
I guess you know already the Apple Spotlight, or the Google Desktop. If not, please click on the links, and download them if you wish, to get a better understanding.
The main feature they deliver is a instant search - that is, as soon as you type the first letters of something, a search list pops up, and is showing you the matching results.
Those search tools, however, like any regular web search engine, look only for documents, but not for applications! You generally use the Start menu, some kind of other shortcuts, the Settings menu of your operating system, or a web browser (in case of web applications) in order to locate and run the application which is required to accomplish your task.
Now imagine you could find and launch all those nifty utility tools from one central starting point, by just typing the first letters related with that task!
Gimme some examples!
What kind of stuff can you get accomplished? Well, here some examples:
- Reservate a movie ticket
- Submit a bug report
- CRM
- Store and find passwords
- Start, stop and configue Apache
- Configure any setting of your operating system
- Search and read Wikipedia articles (see www.wikideskbar.com)
- Your favorite gizmo here... ;)
Where can it be employed?
Mobile devices
ChatApplications are particularly well suited for complex devices with a reduced screen size, such as celulars or PDAs, or most of the other mobile devices.
Desktop
Also the desktop space is valuable real estate! A client exists in form of a Deskbar, which is integrated in the operating system (see again www.wikideskbar.com for an example). Also Apple Dashboard Widgets come to mind.
Our V I S I O N
Now, you can think of ChatApps as just an additional way of finding and launching applications, but go one step further, and imagine a central launching and execution location as THE way for the user to interact with the system! Imagine a operating system (say Linux for instance) without Start Menu, desktop shortcuts, system settings, and - most importanly - without any kind of command line! Heretic? Surely. Impossible? No. Challenge me, and I hope we get a lively debate ;)
Current status
The framework (client, server, Eclipse editor) is in an advanced development status - however it is yet far from being mature for serious production deployment. This is an open source project (LGPL) - so please join, and help us to achieve this goal!
Join us!
Interested? If you are a programmer, software tester, writer, marketing whizz, a company involved in mobile applications or just a plain user interested in new tecnologies please join our project, and help us shape the future of computing!
