Google+ users will soon be able to create and edit diagrams in real time while video chatting on Google+ Hangouts, thanks to German developer Michael Goderbaur.

"It feels like all your friends are hanging out in the same conference room editing the diagram on a giant whiteboard without the need for being in the same physical location," Michael writes on Google+.

The tool lets you create events, such as products to ship, and add tasks to assign labels, choose a carrier and more. Similar to Google Docs, the editor assigns a different color to each contributor.

LAUNCH has asked Michael about his plans for the editing tool and will update if we get a response.

"Very sharp," +Mark Robinson writes on Google+. "This would be fantastic as a default item in Hangouts. Well done."

"Awesome!" +Igor Almeida writes. "So when can we test it? :P"

Once Google+ opens the API to the general public, Michael says that he will walk people through how to embed the editor into a Hangout. Google+ first launched its API to developers in September and recently added search capabilities [ see our story ].

The tool supports six different diagram types, including UML and EPC. The diagram editor is based on the processWave.org editor, a project Michael worked on while at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany with six other students. They released the editor for Google Wave in May 2010 and also presented their editor at the Google I/O 2010 developer conference. Google shut down Wave in August 2010.

Other online diagram services include Gliffy and Graphity, neither of which feature video-based collaboration. The code for processWave's editor is available at http://code.google.com/p/diagram-editor-for-google-plus.

CONTACTS & LINKS

processWave
Website: www.processwave.org
Twitter: @processwave
Email: processwave@gmail.com

Michael Goderbaur, Product leader
Google+: https://plus.google.com/107095911821801860568/posts