In Simple Terms

Google Wave is in simplistic terms a development of email and messaging systems – a stream of information that can be interacted with in ways that make the information more ‘live’ and efficient. This is oversimplifying what is a development that could improve our online productivity considerably. Below are a few of the key features of Google Wave:

The system uses familiar interfaces and ideas when using email, messaging and word processing systems and therefore there is no need to relearn some of the basic techniques when interacting with Wave. When a participant edits or adds comments to a single Wave [or stream of information], the Wave will be moved to the top of the inbox ready for review. Wave becomes a tree structure of interactivity where certain participants in a stream of discussion can break off into another discussion.

Live Interactivity

A key feature of Wave is that as information is typed into the browser, unlike Skype, Instant Messenger and other IM systems, the individual keystrokes are shown as they happen with minimal delay over broadband connections. To avoid embarrassment or if a sentence needs to be more carefully crafted there is the option to bypass the live typing feature where necessary.

When a Wave discussion is occurring and live conversations between several participants is being recorded it is possible for all involved to be able to edit on the fly. If a series of comments are being written these can be changed as they are being written by other participants.

Embedding In Blog Style

It is possible to embed entire Waves into web pages. Put in oversimplified terms – if Google Wave allows more efficient interactivity between groups of people wanting to communicate ideas instantly then embedding a Wave is simply a case of allowing a standard web page to show this interactivity as it happens. This is in a similar way to the way Google Maps can be embedded into a standard web page easily.

Mobile Friendly

Google Wave will be available for mobile phones including Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone allowing mobile participation and interactivity. You can see a demonstration of how this will work [though its not fully working] at 25m 25sec on the Google Wave demo video [links to YouTube in a new window]

Finding, Filtering and Translating

Another useful feature of Wave is that the user can essentially filter out the factual elements of a discussion and sent to a Wiki or other document so as knowledge is built up around a subject it can be stored and retrieved easily. Eventually Google expects that Spreadsheets and Presentation Tools will be built around the Wave system to reduce time needed to transfer information across to other systems.

Google Wave can support the use of different languages [and presumably the translation of these on the fly]. Hebrew and Chinese characters are demonstrated in the YouTube video below.

Uploading Images

Wave can handle uploading of images to the server and as these images are uploaded to the Wave conversation thumbnails are quickly generated to show other participants on the network what images are being processed. The image labels can easily be edited by the group / participants. A demo of this is shown at 35min 20sec on the Google Wave demo video [links to YouTube in a new window]

Tagging Waves

Tags are used to organise Waves and allow users / participants to search for different Waves on the system as they build up. This is similar to searching for emails in an email archive. A demo of this is seen at 40min 26sec. Waves can also be cross linked – a link to another wave can be inserted into a wave and therefore cross linking is possible. See this at 40min 39sec on the Google Wave demo video [links to YouTube in a new window].

Advanced Spelling and Other Toolkit Modules

Advanced spelling systems from Google Web Toolkit are integrated and there is an excellent example of how advanced this has become at 44min 15sec. Google have cute names for their various toolkit modules including Bloggy [for inserting Wave as a blog], Linky [intelligent method for inserting links] and Spelly. These all happen server side which means that information is all processed quickly on the server then the results transmitted over the web to the client computer [where the user sees the result].

Polling Systems and Collaboration

At 48min 56sec an interesting poll system is demonstrated where users / participants can vote or indicate YES / NO / MAYBE interest live on the site. As people change their mind or vote the results are displayed in lists and graphs for analysis.

Games and Progress

At 51mins 42sec Google staff demonstrate Wave being used for interactive games and demonstrate the progress bar that highlights how the entire Wave progresses from its origins of a single stream of information and at 52mins 42sec a demonstration of how Google Maps can be used to demonstrate interest in a holiday location is shown. Google hopes and anticipates that their examples are only a basic venture into the endless possibilities of what could be achieved with the system.

There are several other systems demonstrated toward the end of the presentation but essentially the features listed above would provide most effective for business and social development. Google Wave is currently in the final phases of development and a demo version of the system will be made available to a limited group of users in the near future. For the moment we just need to be patient before this exciting new technology creeps into mainstream workflow and daily activity.

Other discussion and links

Not everyone is so delighted about the arrival of Google Wave or, at least, they are skeptical of the benefits it may bring to the web community as a whole. Some interested articles are listed below:

TechCrunch: Google Wave – There Will Be Backlash
Lifehacker.com takes a first look at Google Wave

Google Wave: A Brief Overview [8min]

This is for the less programmer orientated viewer who may want an overview of what Google Wave can do for their business, academic project or social interaction!

Full Google Wave Demo [1h20min]

Here is the full Google Wave demo before a live audience. Most of it goes according to plan. Recommended for those with both a programming interest, patience and a reasonable understanding of technical terms for the 1.5 hour demo [and general Google banter]. If this doesn’t sound like you then go with the overview above!