Below is a list of tips to ensure smooth usage of LabMaestro across your research team and environment. We recommend that you read these before using the software.
Acquiring a LabMaestro License
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If you have purchased VPixx hardware from 2021 or later, connecting VPixx Hardware to your computer via USB will automatically allow you to use the full functionalities of LabMaestro.
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If you do not have a device that is eligible for LabMaestro, but still want to use it for collecting research data without Restricted Mode, you can purchase software licenses by contacting sales@vpixx.com. These licenses are available for the standalone software and for eligible hardware purchased before 2021.
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Restricted Mode lets you navigate and use LabMaestro software while away from your VPixx Devices, maximizing your off-site productivity. While in Restricted Mode, you can design your experiments and test them before you run them for data collection, albeit with some limitations.
Graphics Hardware and Displays
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Integrated graphics cards may lead to suboptimal performance and are not recommended for running LabMaestro effectively.
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On laptops equipped with a dedicated GPU, the GPU operating settings may change when disconnected from the power supply or when the battery switches to an 'Energy Economy' mode. For software stability, we strongly advise keeping a power supply connected.
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It is important to note that when using a consumer monitor (as opposed to a VPixx research display such as the PROPixx projector), selecting a non-native video mode may result in video artifacts, such as scaling and interpolation. These artifacts originate from the device itself. To minimize the likelihood and magnitude of artifacts, we suggest referring to your device’s operating manual and setting your consumer monitor to operate at its native resolution and refresh rate.
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Ensure you have the latest version of our software installed to maximize device compatibility and performance.
LabMaestro Builder Recommendations
General
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We recommend specifying stimulus dimensions in degrees of visual angle. This simplifies working across multiple computer stations and sharing project files with colleagues, as dimensions are adjusted to account for the requested viewing distance and the physical dimensions of the current main display.
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LabMaestro provides several options for previewing experiment designs. However, it is important to note that previews have access only to locally available information; they may not always be complete. For instance, you may have incorporated variable delays or method-driven values that only take effect at runtime when you click Launch Experiment. Therefore, as part of the experiment design process, you should always examine the outputs of a deployed experiment file to ensure you have a comprehensive understanding of the experiment’s behaviour at runtime.
Project Organisation
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We recommend you define relevant names for all components in your experiment. Doing this ensures your project is easily understandable to all members of your research team, as well as to potential other users if you share components using the Shared Library.
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The previous point also applies to Data Recordings. By default, if no Subject ID is entered, LabMaestro will store data as an Anonymous session. However, by default, LabMaestro stores only one anonymous session (you can change this via a property in Edit -> Preferences -> Anonymous history length). Please ensure all recordings are named to avoid data loss.
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Expressions always ignore the case (capitalization) of variables and properties they refer to, meaning that if you define a variable as "MyVariable," you can also refer to it as "myvariable" or "MYVARIABLE" without any issues. However, to avoid confusion, it is recommended that you maintain a consistent capitalization scheme for your variables and properties to make your projects easier to read and understand.