Thanks for the quick reply, Rob.
One thing I'd like to do is expose the list of collections, and then the individual pictures in a particular collection. I want to do that over a socket-based protocol (HTTP REST would be perfect) so I can build a small LR plugin that's able to browse collections on a remote Lightroom.
Apple's iPhoto had this functionality but for an unknown reason they dropped it in the latest release. Now I have no way to show my pictures on the computer connected to the projector in my media room. Lightroom would be my choice here since I already use it in my workflow.
Thanks!