overview
Contracted to research and prototype a real-time screen-sharing feature for NetSupport's bespoke remote education platform. The deliverable was a Chrome extension that provided a pseudo-RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) experience for classroom management on ChromeOS devices.
The project was a focused R&D engagement: assess what was achievable within the Chrome Extension API constraints, design the signalling architecture, and produce a working proof-of-concept.
what i did
Chrome Extension architecture
Designed and implemented a Chrome Extension using native ES6 JavaScript, without external frameworks. The extension leveraged the Chrome OS Extension API to capture screen state and stream it in real time — respecting the sandboxed permissions model of the platform.
WebRTC video streaming
Used WebRTC as the video transport layer, establishing peer connections between the teacher console and student devices. Handled ICE candidate negotiation, stream initialisation, and graceful connection teardown within the constraints of the ChromeOS environment.
WebSocket signalling
Built a WebSocket signalling layer to coordinate peer discovery and connection setup between devices on the same network. Designed the message protocol to be minimal, fast, and recoverable on dropped connections.
Research and documentation
Produced technical documentation covering the architecture decisions, limitations of the Chrome Extension API at the time, and a recommended path forward for the production build.