A system for virtual control of electronic laboratory equipment includes a local computer system. One or more items of electronic laboratory equipment are connected to the local computer system. Each item of electronic laboratory equipment has a physical control panel including one or more displays or controls. A virtual control panel generation unit generates a virtual control panel accessible from a remote computer system. The virtual control panel is substantially similar to the physical control panel in appearance. A command interpretation unit monitors interaction between the remote user and the virtual control panel and generates electronic laboratory equipment commands for exploiting the functionality of the electronic laboratory equipment.