[DAS2] OmicBrowse from RIKEN

[Steve Chervitz]

I just noticed this blurb in the latest BioInform, 20 July 07:

> Japan¹s RIKEN has released an update for the OmicBrowse genome browser, which
> displays an integrated view of multiple omics annotations filtered with
> ontologies. New functions include access controls over secure datasets, the
> ability to change the browser's window size, and genome annotations for human,
> mouse, rat, C. elegans, Arabidopsis, and rice.

http://omicspace.riken.jp/omicBrowse/OmicBrowseRegister.html

They provide a Flash-based client, Java servlet-based server, and a DAS/1
adapter. Their publication mentions DAS but their system is based on a new
protocol called "Semantic-Space-based Distributed Annotation System (SDAS)".
They don't cite any spec or other document describing this protocol:

http://bioinformatics.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/23/4/524

It has some interesting comparative genomics capabilities:
http://omicspace.riken.jp/HelpOmicBrowse/2D.html

Anyone have experience with it or understand exactly how SDAS works relative
to DAS/1 or DAS/2?

Steve