Project Neem targets real-time distributed multipoint perceptual collaborative applications, focusing on the dynamic aspects that characterize human-to- human group interaction. Neem adopts a Perceptual Interface paradigm - applications can make use of multiple communication channels (voice, facial expressions, gestures) to both capture context and for presentation through virtual participants that take part in group conversations. To facilitate the development of these applications, an evolvable component-based platform has been built, that provides plug-in extensibility and embedded support for Wizard of Oz experiments.