The Internet has rapidly emerged as a readily-accessible medium for data browsing and display. VChemLab is a chemistry software development project which aims to take advantage of this new medium, with platform-independent methods for the storage, retrieval and display of chemical information, using standard Internet tools.

Through the use of Plug-ins and JAVA-based applets in low-cost commercial Internet browsers, we can provide methods for the interactive display of molecular structures and their encoded spectra.

Property libraries will initially be held in client-side JavaScript arrays - the scripting language for browser inter-frame communication - while server-side database registration and access could be developed using either JAVA, Netscape LiveWire or through a Chemical HyperGlossary.

By using object-based descriptors, as in Chemical Markup Language, we will provide a ready mechanism for the association of atom-based functionality with molecular properties - e.g. the assignment of NMR and IR spectral frequencies.

Laboratory & equipment displays will be created using VRML or QuickTime VR