Component Reference

Description

A structural component that allows branching paths in the experiment flow, selecting an epoch based on the value of a condition.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Expression. Conditional statement to be evaluated. Must return True or False.

Related to:

Description

Structural element grouping related components within a timeline.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Hide All on Exit. Toggle on to erase all visual stimuli from the rendering queue upon the end of the epoch.

• Enter Condition. A conditional statement that must return True for the epoch to happen. If this statement returns False, the epoch is skipped

• Exit Condition. A conditional statement that must return True for the epoch to end. If this statement returns False, the experiment flow is halted until the condition returns true.

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Description

Structural element organizing experiment flow. It is comprised of epochs. A timeline can be nested within a method or standalone.

Properties.

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Background Colour. Define a colour value for the screen background during this timeline.

• Custom Variables. Define custom variable values as needed within the timeline.

• Overriding Rendering Mode. Toggle on to bypass the hardware's default rendering mode and define one for this timeline.

• Rendering Mode. The selected rendering mode for this specific timeline.

Related to:

Description

Method component aiming to allow precise control of experimental variables for designs relying on constant visual stimulus presentation as a function of various parameters.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Trial Transition Screen. Define the type of trial transition for this component.

• Fixed Seed. Toggle on to define a static seed to control random behaviour during the experiment.

• Seed. Define the seed controlling random pattern behaviour.

• Save Types in Log. Toggle On to save the trial type to the output log file.

• Replications. Define the number of times all trials defined in this component are repeated.

• Blocking Trials. Define the blocking method for trials.

  • Blocked by Replications will show all possible trials once before replicating them.

  • Blocked by Conditions will show all trials of a condition for the appropriate number of replications before proceeding to the next condition.

  • Fully Randomized shows trials in a completely random manner.

• Show Logs in Output Window. Toggle On to produce logs in a separate window.

Related to:

Description

Method component allowing manipulation of an experimental variable using the QUEST Bayesian algorithm (Watson & Pelli, 1983).

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Trial Transition Screen. Define the type of trial transition for this component.

• Fixed Seed. Toggle on to define a static seed to control random behaviour during the experiment.

• Seed. Define the seed controlling random pattern behaviour.

• Save Types in Log. Toggle On to save the trial type to the output log file.

• Dependent Variable. The name of the dependent variable is manipulated through QUEST.

• Minimum Value. Define the minimum value for the dependent variable.

• Maximum Value. Define the maximum value for the dependent variable.

• Maximum Number of Reversals. Define the maximum number of reversals. Once this number is reached, the method component ends.

• Maximum Number of Attempts. Define the maximum number of trials. Once this number is reached, the method component ends.

• Thresholds.

• Inputs. Define possible inputs in the up/down directions.

• Fixed Value Replication. Toggle On to enable replications at fixed values of your dependent variable.

• Blocking Trials. Define the blocking method for trials.

  • Blocked by Replications will show all possible trials once before replicating them.

  • Blocked by Conditions will show all trials of a condition for the appropriate number of replications before proceeding to the next condition.

  • Fully Randomized shows trials in a completely random manner.

• Listing Alternating Timelines. Unused property.

• Starting From. Define the starting point of the quest method in your experiment.

• Guess. Initial estimate of the dependent variable value.

• Standard Deviation Guess. Standard deviation on the initial estimate. The higher the value, the more quickly the estimate will fluctuate between trials.

• Quest Parameters.

  • Beta. Define the slope of the Weibull psychometric function.

  • Gamma. Define the probability of success at 0 intensity.

  • Delta. Define the estimated rate of unwilling mistakes (i.e. Finger mistakes).

  • Grain. Define the precision of the estimate.

  • Range.

Related to:

Description

Method component to enable standard staircase procedures for experiments.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Trial Transition Screen. Define the type of trial transition for this component.

• Fixed Seed. Toggle on to define a static seed to control random behaviour during the experiment.

• Seed. Define the seed controlling random pattern behaviour.

• Save Types in Log. Toggle On to save the trial type to the output log file.

• Dependent Variable. The name of the dependent variable that is manipulated through QUEST.

• Minimum Value. Define the minimum value for the dependent variable.

• Maximum Value. Define the maximum value for the dependent variable.

• Maximum Number of Reversals. Define the maximum number of reversals. Once this number is reached, the method component ends.

• Maximum Number of Attempts. Define the maximum number of trials. Once this number is reached, the method component ends.

• Thresholds.

• Inputs. Define possible inputs in up/down directions.

• Fixed Value Replication. Toggle On to enable replications at fixed values of your dependent variable.

• Blocking Trials. Define the blocking method for trials.

  • Blocked by Replications will show all possible trials once before replicating them.

  • Blocked by Conditions will show all trials of a condition for the appropriate number of replications before proceeding to the next condition.

  • Fully Randomized shows trials in a completely random manner.

• Listing Alternating Timelines. Unused property.

• Starting From. Define the starting point of the quest method in your experiment.

• Starting Value. Initial estimate of the dependent variable value.

• Default Step. Define the default variation in dependent variable value after each trial.

• Steps. Define more precise step values depending on the number of reversals that have occurred during the task.

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Description

The Arc region creates arc segments, pie wedges, and annuli. Specifying the inner and outer radii, start and stop angles, center of curvature, and chromatic content allows you to edit the appearance of the region.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the region’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Orientation. Define region orientation in degrees.

• Color. Define the colour of the region.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage region waveform properties.

• Full Screen. Toggle On to fit the region to the full screen resolution.

• Geometry. Define region size.

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Description

The Oval region creates circular or oval-shaped regions.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the region’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Orientation. Define region orientation in degrees.

• Color. Define the colour of the region.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage region waveform properties.

• Full Screen. Toggle On to fit the region to the full screen resolution.

• Geometry. Define region size.

Related to:

Description

If you require a region shape that is not directly supported, you can draw it in a third-party graphical editor and import it into LabMaestro as a Shape Mask Region.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the region’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Orientation. Define region orientation in degrees.

• Color. Define the color of the region.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage region waveform properties.

• Full Screen. Toggle On to fit the region to the full screen resolution.

• Geometry. Define region size.

• Scaling. Define resource scaling mode. Options are Fill, Tile, Best Fit and User-defined.

• Resource. Define a resource to determine the mask shape.

• Filter. Filter mask shape via RGB channels, Alpha and brightness.

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Description

The Polygon region allows you to create polygons of any shape by specifying the number of sides as part of the Geometry property.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the region’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Orientation. Define region orientation in degrees.

• Color. Define the colour of the region.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage region waveform properties.

• Full Screen. Toggle On to fit the region to the full screen resolution.

• Geometry. Define region size and shape.

Related to:

Description

The Rectangle Region allows you to define a four-sided region with four right angles. Defining identical height and width draws a square.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the region’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Orientation. Define region orientation in degrees.

• Color. Define the colour of the region.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage region waveform properties.

• Full Screen. Toggle On to fit the region to the full screen resolution.

• Geometry. Define region size and shape.

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Description

Create Text regions, specifying text string, font, point size, style, alignment, location, chromatic content, and more.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the region’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Orientation. Define region orientation in degrees.

• Color. Define the colour of the region.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage region waveform properties.

• Full Screen. Toggle On to fit the region to the full screen resolution.

• Geometry. Define region size and shape.

• Text: Define the text string that will be shown.

• Font: Define the text font used to render the text stimulus.

• Horizontal Alignment: Define if the text is aligned to the left, right or center of the screen.

• Vertical Alignment: Define if the text is aligned to the top, bottom or center of the screen.

Related to:

Description

Insert a checkerboard pattern with control over the checkerboard's check size, orientation, and flicker waveform.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred: Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage pattern waveform properties.

• Square Size: Checkerboard square size, in pixels.

• Spatial Waveform. Manage pattern spatial waveform properties. You can scale and distort the waveform using the Amplitude, DC Offset, Phase, and Symmetry parameters, and can continuously drift the waveform's phase using the Drift Freq. parameter

Used in:

Description

Create a series of concentric rings around a point specified by the Center parameter.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred: Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage pattern waveform properties.

• Spatial Waveform. Manage pattern spatial waveform properties. You can scale and distort the waveform using the Amplitude, DC Offset, Phase, and Symmetry parameters, and can continuously drift the waveform's phase using the Drift Freq. parameter

Used in:

Description

Create a drifting dot field with control over the dot population, coherence, velocity, update period, lifetime period, and flow center.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred: Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Population. The higher this value, the more circles are present.

• Coherence. The higher this value, the more coherent the drift.

• Incoherent Jitter. Toggle this option to add jitter to the dot pattern.

• Amplitude. Define the mean amplitude.

• DC Offset. Define the mean amplitude displacement from zero.

• Update Period Units. Toggle to define the update period.

  • Update Period. The number of frames until the display is updated. 0 is every frame.

• Flashing Dots. Toggle to enable flashing dots.

  • On Time. The time it takes for the dot to turn from invisible to visible.

  • Off Time. The time it takes for the dot to turn from visible to invisible.

• Lifetime. Toggle to define lifetime.

  • Lifetime Duration. The time individual dots remain on the screen.

• Fixed seed. Toggle to define a fixed seed.

  • Seed. Define the specific seed used by this pattern.

• Synchronize Dots. Generate dots in a synchronized manner.

• Dot Geometry. The dots' horizontal and vertical sizes.

• Dot Velocity. Define dot X and Y velocity. Units can be pixels, centimetres, or degrees. When changing units, values are automatically converted to the new unit.

Used in:

Description

Define a pattern as a general mathematical function that will be evaluated for each pixel in the pattern. The function must be scaled to the range -1 to +1.

The expression typically includes the variables x and y, but may also include other variables. Dynamic patterns can be generated by including the variable "time" in the expression, which is the current animation time in seconds.

You can find more information on LabMaestro Expressions in the Values and Expressions page.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred. Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage pattern waveform properties.

• Expression. Define the expression underlying the pattern's appearance.

• Units for Pixel Position. Choose units used in pixel value calculations. Can be pixels, centimetres, or degrees. When changing units, the pattern expression is automatically evaluated for the new unit.

Used in:

Description

Create a Gaussian pattern, controlling its horizontal and vertical standard deviation and overall orientation. Gaussian blobs can be used as stimuli or combined multiplicatively with other patterns to create complex stimuli, such as Gabor patches.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred. Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage pattern waveform properties.

• Standard Deviation. Define standard deviation parameters for the Gaussian pattern. Units can be pixels, centimetres, or degrees. When changing units, values are automatically converted to the new unit.

• Amplitude. Define gaussian pattern amplitude. Default is 1.

• DC Offset. Define offset from the luminance function.

Used in:

Description

Fill a region with a grating. Specify the grating's spatial frequency and orientation. Optionally, control the grating's spatial and temporal waveforms, including the ability to drift the grating.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred. Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage pattern waveform properties.

• Spatial Waveform. Manage pattern spatial waveform properties. You can scale and distort the waveform using the Amplitude, DC Offset, Phase, and Symmetry parameters, and you can continuously drift the waveform's phase using the Drift Freq. parameter

• Spatial Frequency. Define spatial frequency parameters. Unit can be pixels per cycle (default), pixels per degrees or pixels per cm. Value refers to the number of units. When changing units, the value is automatically converted to the new unit.

Used in:

Description

Create true looming dot patterns. These patterns are spatially and temporally identical to the physical analogy of moving through a tunnel with light bulbs randomly placed along the walls.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred: Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Population. The higher this value, the more circles are present.

• Coherence. The higher this value, the more coherent the drift.

• Incoherent Jitter. Toggle this option to add jitter to the dot pattern.

• Amplitude. Define the mean amplitude.

• DC Offset. Define the mean amplitude displacement from zero.

• Update Period Units. Toggle to define the update period.

  • Update Period. The number of frames until the display is updated. 0 is every frame.

• Flashing Dots. Toggle to enable flashing dots.

  • On Time. The time it takes for the dot to turn from invisible to visible.

  • Off Time. The time it takes for the dot to turn from visible to invisible.

• Lifetime. Toggle to define lifetime.

  • Lifetime Duration. The time individual dots remain on the screen.

• Fixed seed. Toggle to define a fixed seed.

  • Seed. Define the specific seed used by this pattern.

• Synchronize Dots. Generate dots in a synchronized manner.

• Dot Geometry. The dots' horizontal and vertical sizes.

• Uniform Dot Density. Toggle on to render dots uniformly across the region. Toggle off to only render dots from the pattern origin.

• Number of Rays. Define the number of directions (rays) across which dots will move. Only has an effect if Uniform Dot Density is off.

• Min Radius: Minimum distance from the center at which dots can appear.

• Dot Speed: Define dot X and Y velocity. Units can be pixels, centimetres, or degrees. When changing units, values are automatically converted to the new unit.

• At Radius: Reference radius for the Dot Speed.

• Projection: Determines the movement of the dots, which can be Constant, Linear, Projection, and Starfield.

Used in:

Description

Create true looming circle patterns. These patterns are spatially and temporally identical to the physical analogy of moving through a tunnel, with the Spatial Waveform parameter painted on its walls.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred. Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage pattern waveform properties.

• Spatial Waveform. Manage pattern spatial waveform properties. You can scale and distort the waveform using the Amplitude, DC Offset, Phase, and Symmetry parameters, and can continuously drift the waveform's phase using the Drift Freq. parameter

• Spatial Frequency. Define spatial frequency parameters. Unit can be pixels per cycle (default), pixels per degrees or pixels per cm. Value refers to the number of units. When changing units, Value is automatically converted to the new unit.

• Radius. Define pattern radius in degrees of visual angle.

Used in:

Description

Fill any region with a movie file.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred. Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Amplitude. Define the mean amplitude.

• DC Offset. Define the mean amplitude displacement from zero.

• Resource. Define the movie resource underlying this pattern.

• Tiling: The toggle will enable tiling across the region if space remains.

• Scaling Mode: Define how the movie scales in the defined region.

• Auto Repeat: Toggle to repeat the movie once all frames have played.

• Muted: Toggle to remove sound from the movie file.

• Speed: Set the movie's playback speed.

Used in:

Description

Used to create static and dynamic random noise patterns, with control over the noise granularity, distribution, and seed, often used as masks or simple stimuli. It can also be used to create random-dot stereograms or to transform first-order stimuli into second-order stimuli.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred. Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Amplitude. Define the mean amplitude.

• DC Offset. Define the mean amplitude displacement from zero.

• Symmetry: Define the point of symmetry in the noise patch.

• Distribution: Define the noise distribution. Available distributions are Uniform, Gaussian and Binary.

• Dynamic Noise: Toggle to enable dynamic noise. The noise patch will change each frame.

• Fixed Seed: Toggle to define a single seed for the pattern.

• Seed: Define the random seed of the pattern.

Used in:

Description

Fill any region with a picture file.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred. Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Amplitude. Define the mean amplitude.

• DC Offset. Define the mean amplitude displacement from zero.

• Resource. Define the picture resource underlying this pattern.

• Tiling: The toggle will enable tiling across the region if space remains.

• Scaling Mode: Define how the movie scales in the defined region.

Used in:

Description

Create windmills, spirals, and other related static and dynamic patterns.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred. Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage pattern waveform properties.

• Spatial Waveform. Manage pattern spatial waveform properties. You can scale and distort the waveform using the Amplitude, DC Offset, Phase, and Symmetry parameters, and you can continuously drift the waveform's phase using the Drift Freq. parameter

• Spatial Frequency. Define spatial frequency parameters. Unit can be pixels per cycle (default), pixels per degrees or pixels per cm. Value refers to the number of units. When changing units, Value is automatically converted to the new unit.

• Number of Cycles: Define the number of rays in the pattern.

• Spiral: Define the intensity of the spiral pattern, if desired.

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Description

Implements a uniform field of dots rotating about a common point specified by the center of rotation parameter.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred: Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Population. The higher this value, the more circles are present.

• Coherence. The higher this value, the more coherent the drift.

• Incoherent Jitter. Toggle this option to add jitter to the dot pattern.

• Amplitude. Define the mean amplitude.

• DC Offset. Define the mean amplitude displacement from zero.

• Update Period Units. Toggle to define the update period.

  • Update Period. The number of frames until the display is updated. 0 is every frame.

• Flashing Dots. Toggle to enable flashing dots.

  • On Time. The time it takes for the dot to turn from invisible to visible.

  • Off Time. The time it takes for the dot to turn from visible to invisible.

• Lifetime. Toggle to define lifetime.

  • Lifetime Duration. The time individual dots remain on the screen.

• Fixed seed. Toggle to define a fixed seed.

  • Seed. Define the specific seed used by this pattern.

• Synchronize Dots. Generate dots in a synchronized manner.

• Dot Geometry. The dots' horizontal and vertical sizes.

• Dot Velocity. Define dot X and Y velocity. Units can be pixels, centimetres, or degrees. When changing units, values are automatically converted to the new unit.

Used in:

Description

Fill a region with a solid pattern. This can be used to implement several different types of stimuli and create a solid flickering field.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Center. Specify the location of the pattern’s center. By default, the coordinate frame is centred at (0, 0) on the screen, as per the VPixx Coordinates System.

• Region Centred: Toggle on to center the pattern in its host region. Toggle off to center the pattern on the display instead.

• Orientation. Define pattern orientation in degrees.

• Flicker Waveform. Manage pattern waveform properties.

• Uniform Value. Define the fill value. 1 is White, while 0 is Black.

Used in:

Description

The Abort command exits the experiment. It will skip any remaining trials or timelines.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Condition. A Boolean expression that corresponds to the condition that is checked to know if the experiment should be aborted. If the expression returns True, the Abort command is executed.

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Description

Calibration routine for the eye tracker (TRACKPixx3 and TRACKPixx /mini). Multiple calibration properties can be customized using this command. The Calibrate Tracker command displays visual targets at predetermined screen coordinates and samples eye tracker data accordingly. Eye-tracking calibration is essential for collecting and reporting data in calibrated screen pixel space.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Mode: The calibration procedure used to display calibration targets and collect gaze samples

  • Automatic: During an automatic calibration, a calibration target is presented for the duration specified by Target Stabilization Time, after which gaze samples are automatically collected.

  • Triggered: Tracker sampling begins only when the participant explicitly confirms that they are fixating on the target by pressing the Trigger Key.

  • Manual: This advanced mode requires two displays and active experimenter control. It allows users to accept, reject, and retry different points while accessing calibration results.

• Target Count: Indicates the number of calibration targets used in the calibration process.
  The calibration allows up to 25 target locations to calibrate the eye tracker, and calibrations can be run using various subsets of these 25 calibration targets. The standard calibration grid for a 16:9 aspect-ratio display is a 13-point grid.

A subset of size n contains the first n calibration targets defined in :

 

• Acceptable Offset (DVA): The threshold for calibration target offset, expressed in degrees of visual angle (DVA). This value should be modified based on your requirements.

• Vertical Coverage: Specifies the proportion of the screen height to be calibrated as a ratio of the total screen height. The default setting is 80 percent.

• Horizontal Coverage: Specifies the proportion of the screen width to be calibrated as a ratio of the total screen width. The default setting is 80 percent.

• Background Colour: Specifies the calibration screen background colour.

• Foreground Colour A: Specifies the first colour of the calibration target. Colour A is the colour of the outer ring.

• Foreground Colour B: Specifies the second colour of the calibration target. Colour B is the colour of the inner ring.

• Target Stabilization Time: Specify the number of milliseconds before collecting each target’s gaze samples. If the target properties include size or colour changes, the targets will be animated during this time.

• Target Min Size: Indicates the minimum radius of each calibration target in pixels.

• Target Max Size: The maximum radius of each calibration target, in pixels.

• Custom Target: Selects an image or video media from your project’s Resources to use as a calibration target. This property is optional.

• Media Scaling: Magnification factor used to resize the media used as a custom target.

• Trigger Key: When calibration mode is set to “triggered”, this specifies the keyboard key that initiates gaze sampling for the current calibration target.

• Failure Prompt: When this is turned on, a prompt with information will appear if a calibration fails to complete.

• Precalibration Countdown: This displays a specified value countdown before the calibration procedure begins. No countdown will be shown if the pre-calibration countdown is set to 0.

• State: A read-only property describing the state of the calibration:

  • Pending: The Calibrate Tracker component has not been reached yet.

  • Ongoing: The calibration procedure defined by the Calibrate Tracker component is currently being executed.

  • Succeeded: The previous calibration procedure attempt, defined by the Calibrate Tracker component, was completed successfully.

  • Failed. The previous calibration procedure attempt, defined by the Calibrate Tracker, either failed or was aborted.

• Calibrated: Read-only property reporting whether the calibration sequence was completed successfully.

• Average Offset: The average offset between the gaze location and the target dot, calculated on the eyes identified in Eye Selection on the Setup TRACKPixx3 screen.

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Description

Configure the characteristics of a digital trigger signal generated from a VPixx video I/O hub. Once the instructions are received, the device sends the digital trigger command via USB and executes it.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Mode: Selects which types of trigger to send:

  • “PositivePulse”: A single square wave pulse voltage change from 0V to 5V, returning to 0V.

  • “NegativePulse”: A single square wave pulse voltage change from 5V to 0V, returning to 5V.

• Digital Output: The digital output value you want to trigger. Please note that this is not the pin number; the mapping of a pin to the digital output can be found in the user manual.

• Duration: Defines the duration of each pulse in milliseconds. In other words, how long does it stay at 0V or 5V before returning to its initial state?

• Duty Cycle: Ratio of time the signal stays in the positive or negative state.

• Repetitions: Specifies how many times the trigger pulse should be repeated, typically a single repetition.

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Description

The Go To command lets you jump from one point in a timeline to another.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Pointer. Specify the target point in the timeline.

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Description.

Hide a named region and its patterns.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Region: Specify which region should be hidden. You can select from all regions included in the current Epoch.

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Description

Non-blocking command that instructs LabMaestro to monitor inputs during the experiment.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Log Event: Toggle to record the properties of the input in the data file. The log includes the key pressed, the time of the key press, and the time of the key release.

• Save to Variable: Save the input properties to a variable defined earlier in the experiment.

• Inputs: Define which inputs the command should listen for. An input not defined in this property will be ignored. If no inputs are defined, all inputs are recorded.

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Description

This command allows you to record a text string or a number in the logs file. This can be used to put information that you want from variables or to help you during your post-experiment analysis.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Log Type: Number or text, depending on what you wish to store.

• Value: The value to be logged.

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Description

Optionally used after a Play Sound command to pause the audio.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• All: Toggle to pause all sounds.

• Sound: If All is off, specify which sound component should be paused.

Description

The pixel mode command allows you to send a specific trigger using only the top left pixel’s colour value. This command automatically enables the right mode on the selected device to send the trigger for the requested duration.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Device: The device that will send the digital output trigger.

• Pixel Mode: The chosen mode, which can be RGB (controls all 24 digital outputs), GB (controls the lower 16 digital outputs), B (DATAPixx3 Only, controls the lowest 8 digital outputs)

• Value Mode: The mode to use to provide the trigger value. It can be an expression that depends on other variables, a single value, or multiple values (an RGB triplet).

• Duration Mode: Specifies how long you want the trigger to last. This duration can be defined in video frames or seconds, or the trigger can continue until there is another pixel mode trigger or the experiment is completed.

• Frames/Seconds: Time for the trigger in the respective unit.

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Description

Resets the Time variable to 0.

By default, the time saved by Log corresponds to the time from the beginning of a timeline. However, you may want to measure time relative to some other reference point within the trial. In such situations, you can include the "Reset Timer" command in the timeline to set time zero for your data.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

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Description

This command resumes audio playback after a Pause Sound command.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• All: Toggle to resume all sounds.

• Sound: If All is off, specify which sound should be resumed.

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Description

This command captures an image of your screen at a given moment and saves it as a picture file. The captured screen is saved as a JPG in the Recordings section of the Project Panel. The capture screen command helps generate images for publications and presentations.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• File Name: The name of the output JPG file.

• Frame: Specifies which eye the picture is taken from if you are using a 3D display mode. You can choose either the left or right eye, or the combined image from both eyes.

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Description

Used to change the value of a variable during an experiment. For example, this can be used to change a region or pattern property over time.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Variables: Specify which variables to redefine as well as their new values.

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Description

Show a previously hidden region and its patterns.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Region: Specify which region to reveal. You can select from all regions included in the current Epoch.

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Description

Start recording analog inputs (ADC) on the specified channel and at the specified rate. You can also specify a duration to record for only a specific amount of time.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Device: The VPixx device from which analog inputs are recorded.

• Frequency: How often the schedule records data, in Hz. This value is between 0 and 200 000 Hz.

• Delay: How long (in seconds) before the schedule starts recording. The maximum delay is 4.29 seconds.

• Duration: How long (in seconds) to record data for.

• Channels: The channels from which to record data. Channels correspond to the device's respective ADCs. For example, Channel00 is ADC0.

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Description

Starts recording digital inputs (DIN) on a specific device.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Device: The VPixx device from which the digital inputs are recorded.

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Description

Initiates a TRACKPixx recording schedule. With a TRACKPixx3, this initiates a 2KHz binocular TRACKPixx3 recording schedule using the DATAPixx3’s microsecond-precision clock and integrated video I/O subsystem. With a TRACKPixx/mini, this initiates a 120 Hz binocular recording.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

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Description

Play a pre-recorded sound in your experiment. Sounds can be played on any output device, including VPixx devices.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Device: Specify playback device.

• Sound Type: Specify the type of sound played.

  • If Media: Use the Resource property to specify which audio file to play. Audio files must be imported into the Project tab under Resources.

  • If Tone: Use the Tone property to set the audio playback parameters. You may define Amplitude, DC Offset, Symmetry, Frequency, and Shape.

• Volume: Adjust the audio playback volume on a scale of 0 to 100.

• Duration: Specify the length of the audio playback in seconds. If set to 0, the sound will repeat until a Pause Sound command is triggered. If it is shorter than the sound file's length, playback will stop when the time has elapsed.

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Description

Stops recording analog input (ADC) on a specific device and saves the data to a file.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Device: The VPixx device from which analog inputs are recorded.

• File Name: The name of the file in which the analog recorded data is saved.

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Description

Stops recording digital inputs (DIN) on a specific device and saves them to a file

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Device: The VPixx device from which the digital inputs are recorded.

• File Name: The name of the file in which the digital input recorded data is saved.

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Description

Stops the tracker recording schedule and saves fixation data.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• File Name: Name of the output fixation data.

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Description

This command runs a system command (e.g., a terminal command). It can be useful if a specific calculation, evaluation, or feature is not directly implemented in LabMaestro but can otherwise be done on your system. You can save the command's return value output directly to a variable for later use.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Command: The string of the command you want to run.

• Blocking: Flag, which determines if the timeline should wait or not on the command to finish execution before continuing to the next instruction.

• Save To Variable: The name of the variable to which the output of the command will be saved.

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Description

Validates previous TRACKPixx calibration data.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Mode: The calibration procedure used to display calibration targets and collect gaze samples

  • Automatic: During an automatic calibration, a calibration target is presented for the duration specified by Target Stabilization Time, after which gaze samples are automatically collected.

  • Triggered: Tracker sampling begins only when the participant explicitly confirms that they are fixating on the target by pressing the Trigger Key.

  • Manual: This advanced mode requires two displays and active experimenter control. It allows users to accept, reject, and retry different points while accessing calibration results.

• Target Count: Indicates the number of calibration targets used in the calibration process.
  The calibration allows up to 25 target locations to calibrate the eye tracker, and calibrations can be run using various subsets of these 25 calibration targets. The standard calibration grid for a 16:9 aspect-ratio display is a 13-point grid.

A subset of size n contains the first n calibration targets defined in :

 

• Acceptable Offset (DVA): The threshold for calibration target offset, expressed in degrees of visual angle (DVA). This value should be modified based on your requirements.

• Vertical Coverage: Specifies the proportion of the screen height to be calibrated as a ratio of the total screen height. The default setting is 80 percent.

• Horizontal Coverage: Specifies the proportion of the screen width to be calibrated as a ratio of the total screen width. The default setting is 80 percent.

• Background Colour: Specifies the calibration screen background colour.

• Foreground Colour A: Specifies the first colour of the calibration target. Colour A is the colour of the outer ring.

• Foreground Colour B: Specifies the second colour of the calibration target. Colour B is the colour of the inner ring.

• Target Stabilization Time: Specify the number of milliseconds before collecting each target’s gaze samples. If the target properties include size or colour changes, the targets will be animated during this time.

• Target Min Size: Indicates the minimum radius of each calibration target in pixels.

• Target Max Size: The maximum radius of each calibration target, in pixels.

• Custom Target: Selects an image or video media from your project’s Resources to use as a calibration target. This property is optional.

• Media Scaling: Magnification factor used to resize the media used as a custom target.

• Trigger Key: When calibration mode is set to “triggered”, this specifies the keyboard key that initiates gaze sampling for the current calibration target.

• Failure Prompt: When this is turned on, a prompt with information will appear if a calibration fails to complete.

• Precalibration Countdown: This displays a specified value countdown before the calibration procedure begins. No countdown will be shown if the pre-calibration countdown is set to 0.

• State: A read-only property describing the state of the calibration:

  • Pending: The Calibrate Tracker component has not been reached yet.

  • Ongoing: The calibration procedure defined by the Calibrate Tracker component is currently being executed.

  • Succeeded: The previous calibration procedure attempt, defined by the Calibrate Tracker component, was completed successfully.

  • Failed. The previous calibration procedure attempt, defined by the Calibrate Tracker, either failed or was aborted.

• Validated: Read-only property reporting whether the validation sequence was completed successfully.

• Average Offset: The average offset between the gaze location and the target dot, calculated on the eyes identified in Eye Selection on the Setup TRACKPixx3 screen.

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Description

Blocking the command that pauses the timeline before proceeding to the following command. Often used as the last command in an Epoch to specify how long visual stimuli will be displayed on the screen.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Enforce Frame Swap: This option forces a frame swap before the wait time.

• Wait Duration: Specifies the duration of the pause in seconds.

• Random Additional Delay: Maximum additional pause to Wait Duration. If enabled, a random delay between 0 and the defined value is added to the wait time, sampled from a uniform distribution. This parameter is disabled by default.

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Description

Blocking the command that instructs LabMaestro to monitor inputs during the experiment. It supports the same hardware as ListenForInputs but stops the experiment flow until either an input is recorded or the delay defined in the timeout property is reached.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Enforce Frame Swap: This option forces a frame swap right before the wait command starts.

• Redefines Expected Inputs: Toggle to redefine which inputs should be monitored. This property is relevant if multiple commands listen for inputs throughout an epoch. If it is turned off, the previous inputs are used.

• Inputs: Define which keys the command should listen for. Any recorded input of a key not listed in this property will be ignored. If no keys are defined, all inputs are recorded.

• Last Event: This read-only field shows what information can be accessed by a future expression from this WaitForInputs command.

• Log Event: Toggle to record the properties of the input in the data file. The log includes the key pressed, the time of the key press, and the time of the key release.

• Save to Variable: Define the variable to which input data will be saved.

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Description

Blocking the command that instructs LabMaestro to monitor inputs during the experiment. It waits for the participant to enter text on their keyboard, then stores it in a variable.

Properties

• Name. Component reference name. Must be unique to avoid conflicts.

• Type (Read Only). Type of the component, as defined in the component library.

• Enforce Frame Swap: This option forces a frame swap right before the wait command starts.

• Save to Variable: Define the variable to which the text input will be saved.

• Timeout: Set a maximum amount of time (in seconds) that the command will wait before proceeding to the next step in the experiment.

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