Web application for social networking using RTC

Abstract

Real-time communication (RTC) is an important part of modern convergence networks 1. Interactive voice communication, video, conferencing, chat, messaging and presence are today very popular and widely use IP network services and applications. Many web services already use RTC, but need downloads, native apps or plugins. These includes Skype, Facebook (which uses Skype) and Google Hangouts (which use the Google Talk plugin). Downloading, installing and updating plugins can be complex, error prone and annoying. Plugins can be difficult to deploy, debug, troubleshoot, test and maintain—and may require licensing and integration with complex, expensive technology. The vision of WebRTC is a world where smartphones, TVs and computers could all communicate on a common platform. The guiding principles of the WebRTC project are that its APIs should be open source, free, standardized, built into web browsers and more efficient than existing technologies. WebRTC has implemented open standards for real-time, plugin-free video, audio and data communication. The objective of this paper is to present a web application for networking and interaction between students and instructs using the concept of real-time peer-to-peer communication (WebRTC). The web application serves as a Q&A forum as well as a networking site for students to interact with the instructor as well as peer students by posting their questions in Twitter-style tweets and have other students or the instructor answer them.