Lab website

A lab(s) website is a specific type of website most commonly dedicated to research and development programs.

Relating to the classic scientific research environment - the laboratory - existing lab websites predominantly fall into two categories, the real-world and the virtual.

Real-world lab sites relate to the activities and research conducted by laboratories existing outside the Internet. In general, these sites tend to offer users a chance to see results of past research, rather than detailed views of contemporary research.

Examples of these types of labs from the aviation world include Boeing’s Phantom Works, which covers the research arm of the Boeing Corporation, and Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Program, aka Skunk Works.

A number of companies and institutions have created virtual lab websites specifically for research into Internet-based products.

This type of research environment is seen as both podium and playpen for Internet-borne companies. In many cases, the labs offer visitors a chance to learn more about the company's products currently in development, and increasingly, to actually trial the work in progress.

One of the best-known examples is Google Labs. Since its inception, Google Labs has resulted in the trial and launch of live products such as Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Videos.

Similar examples from large web-based companies include Yahoo! Next and Microsoft Live Labs.

One recent notable addition is Digg Labs, illustrating the Digg social bookmarking community's activities in near real-time. The labs are composed of the swarm and the stack activity displays.

Mozilla has added a lab area to its product offering.

Virtual laboratories are not the sole domain of companies and institutions. Some are created by individuals and exist solely as websites.

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Wikipedia