“Vision Rebirth” Release – Winter 2023 / Spring 2024

Psykinematix Standard Universal Edition 1.9.4

Fully compatible with macOS 11 (Big Sur), 12 (Monterey), 13 (Ventura), and 14 (Sonoma)
running on 64-bit Intel and Apple M-Series Macintosh computers


Standard Edition (v1.*) is the full-featured version of Psykinematix for researchers on a budget or students pursuing research in vision sciences: you can start designing and running standard or new psychophysical or cognitive experiments in no time. No programming is required and many examples and step-by-step tutorials are available.
Learn more… Download the Trial Version
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System Requirements

Minimum:macOS 11, Intel Core M, Intel HD Graphics 5300, 4GB RAM
Better:macOS 12, Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon R9, 8GB RAM, or better
Recommended:macOS 13, Apple M1 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16GB RAM, or better

Release Notes

Standard Edition Version 1.9.4 Universal      Released:  January 13, 2024

Full compatibility with macOS 11 (“Big Sur”), macOS 12 (“Monterey”), macOS 13 (“Ventura”), and macOS 14 (“Sonoma”)

Standard Edition Version 1.9.3       Released:  December 15, 2020

Prevent launch under Rosetta 2 on M1 computers due to instructions incompatibility with Intel processors

Standard Edition Version 1.9.2       Released:  November 12, 2020

Bug fixes, improvements and 64-bit compatibility with macOS 11 "Big Sur"

Standard Edition Version 1.9       Released:  October 28, 2019

Bug fixes, improvements and 64-bit compatibility with macOS 10.15 "Catalina"

Standard Edition Version 1.8       Released:  October 18, 2018

Bug fixes, improvements & compatibility with macOS 10.14 "Mojave"

Standard Edition Version 1.7      Released: September 25, 2017

Full Compatibility with macOS 10.13 "High Sierra"

Standard Edition Version 1.6      Released: June 21, 2017

New Features:

  • On-the-fly movie export of whole experimental session when control-clicking the "Start" button,
  • Support for Interlaced Stereo mode,
  • Support for time-varying position of whole RDK stimuli,
  • Support for dynamic shape in shape-based RDK stimuli,
  • "Custom" placement of stimuli instances in spatial nAFC Procedure (through [NFCINDEX] variable),
  • Addition of Parameter Configurations (independent variables) in Experiment Control Settings,
  • Notification system to warn about potential issues affecting the experimental setup (e.g. brightness change, expired calibrations, etc.)

Feature Improvements:

  • Improved compatibility with macOS 10.10 "Yosemite" to 10.12 "Sierra",
  • More reliable movie Export of OpenGL preview,
  • Addition of Anti-aliasing options in Experiment properties,
  • Support for chromatic coordinates specification using a chromatic diagram (for xyY and Yu'v' color spaces),
  • Support for trichomatic specification of background appearance in Experiment Display Settings,
  • Addition of xyY, Yu'v', L*a*b* as "Color Space" in Default Preferences tab,
  • Addition of 'bessj1' and 'bessjn' Bessel functions for Custom stimulus,
  • Support for 'time' variable directly in custom expression (also works for OpenGL Preview or movie export)
  • Improvement of Graphing Math Palette to specify temporal properties of stimuli,
  • Support for spatial jitter direction in SSS stimuli (x-, y- and isotropic in addition of xy-),
  • Improved generation of non-overlapping heterogeneous SSS stimuli elements with warning in case the overlapping constraint is too strong,
  • Addition of minimum/maximum abort criterion based on a number of consecutive incorrect responses in Staircase properties panel,
  • Support for custom catch values in Staircase properties panel (multiple values separated with \),
  • Support for Standard/Test randomization for MOCS and Bayesian Methods,
  • Addition of a separate ISI parameters to insert between the Standard/Test randomization in Yes/No procedure,
  • Addition of PAUSETRIALS, PAUSETIME, PAUSEDURATION and PAUSEMSG system variables to control pauses at regular intervals
  • Support for string variable in Association composing,
  • Better estimation of calibration completion levels (based on the selected chromatic mode),
  • Addition of NetStation Drift Correction and Sync Timing options to troubleshoot communication timing,

User interface improvements:

  • Psykinematix files can be opened by directly double-clicking them in the Finder (*.epkmx, *.lpkmx, *.dpkmx),
  • Support for undo/redo operations in Designer panel,
  • Addition of a contextual menu to events in Designer panel
  • Support for undo/redo operations when editing expression for "Custom" stimuli,
  • Detect and emit descriptive error when image RSVP is set with "All Simultaneous" selection mode,
  • Redesign of Plotter panel,
  • Subject-specific parameter/values can be added, deleted or edited directly in Subject panel,
  • Ability to select which data to show in the Gamma calibration table drawer (& addition of CIE xy and DE2000 data),
  • A particular resolution and all its calibration configurations can now be deleted by control-clicking the '-' button in Calibration panel,
  • Addition of an option for alternative ESCape key as a work-around to missing ESC key on newer MacBook &MacBookPro laptops with Touch Bar),

Fixed:

  • Detect change of subject selection through up/down arrow keys and update variable table in Subject panel
  • Stuck textfields when locking the properties panels,
  • Blank texture generation for non-precomputed images with random duration,
  • Issue with same name events embedded in a timeline,
  • Issue with global rotation in text or image-based MEF,
  • Issue with expression-based evaluation of x,y coordinates of SSS stimuli,
  • Uncorrect link for Psykinematix Facebook Group from Help panel,
  • Blank color stimuli when LMS to RGB matrix gets reset,
  • Issue with lost editing being when closing the math palette.
Version 1.5.2       Released: Sept 20th, 2016

Full Compatibility with Mac OS X 10.12 (Sierra)

Version 1.5.1       Released: Jan 7th, 2016

Full Compatibility with Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan)

Version 1.5      Released: July 28, 2015

New Features:

  • Backup & Restore options in File menu,
  • "Open Log File" option in File menu,
  • Support for multimedia image stimulus in MEF and SSS stimuli,
  • Support for Conditional event embedded in Association event,
  • Standard/Test intervals randomization option in Yes/No procedure,
  • pnoise(X,Y) function to generate Perlin noise in Custom Stimuli,
  • log2(), clip(), step() and hsmoothstep() in mathematical expressions,
  • Support for 11.6 bits monochromatic mode through Bit-Stealing
  • Support for Noisy-Bit technique (stochastic dithering) to provide quasi-continuous luminance resolution (based on Allard & Faubert 2008)

Feature Improvements:

  • Better report in Plotter panel of results obtained from interleaved methods,
  • Support for expression-based "ResponseTime" property in "Trial Properties" inside Procedure panel,
  • Support for time-varying alpha for Text Multimedia stimuli,
  • Support for custom image as target and square shape for ground in Ishihara stimuli,
  • Addition of "Targeted Chromatic Mode" in Gamma calibration panel,
  • Report R2 value for Gamma correction,
  • Support for time-varying grid size in MEF stimuli,
  • Support for Catch trial proportion in Staircase method,
  • No error anymore for missing event in Association Composed Stimuli,
  • Addition of a "Hole Size" parameter in zone specification for RDK stimuli,
  • Addition of "Asyn/Syn" lifetime mode in RDK stimuli,
  • Support for time-varying elements in RDK stimuli and "Asyn/Syn" dynamics mode,
  • Support for time-varying direction, speed, coherence and dot number in RDK stimuli,
  • Report multiple declarations of the same variable as a warning rather than a critical error,
  • Better randomization of conditions with different number of trials,
  • Addition of optional Pause between repeats in Conditions Method,
  • Addition of [RESPONSE] and [RT] system-defined variables,
  • Support for comparison (<a>==<b>) and conditional (<a>?<b>:<c>) formats in trigger information,

User interface improvements:

  • Prevent attempt to change event title if locked,
  • Experiment title can be renamed for individual sessions in Subjects panel,
  • Access to all sections of documentation from contextual Help window,

Fixed:

  • License activation issue under OSX 10.7 and 10.8,
  • Issues with time-varying texture-based stimuli used as RDK elements,
  • Crash when using custom stimuli with RGB outputs,
  • Improved speed and memory usage when generating time-varying stimuli by preventing computation of duplicated frames,
  • Hang problem when closing some Keyspan serial devices,
  • Shape stimuli not rendered in achromatic mode when selected,
  • Preview in window mode always rendered in RGB mode.
Version 1.4.2  Released: October 22, 2012

Feature Improvements:

  • Built-in modulation expressions in Math palette now function of TIME variable with some default values for parameters (so the expressions are automatically plotted),
  • Addition of built-in temporal modulations in Math palette ("Pulse Modulation", "Triangle Modulation", "Square-wave Modulation", "Sawtooth Modulation" and "Triangle-wave Modulation"),
  • Support for custom LCD backlight types when using Spyder 3/4 colorimeters (CCFL/CCFL2/White LED/RGB LED, Normal/Wide-gamut),
  • Addition of device serial number, hardware /software version to calibration device information,
  • Better report of errors from calibration devices.

Fixed:

  • Inward Radial motion in RDK.
Version 1.4.1  Released: October 1, 2012

Feature Improvements:

  • Addition of minimum mode & value options to staircase properties panel,
  • Addition of threshold estimation option (arithmetic vs geometric, and peaks vs throughs) to staircase properties panel, and "Original Estimation" button to staircase options under Plotter panel,
  • Support for time-varying Alpha in Stimulus Control Settings palette,
  • Carriage Return not sent anymore by default in 'write' serial commands (has to be specified now explicitly using <CR>),
  • Addition of serial command 'send' to support binary values,
  • Binary & hexadecimal formats not supported anymore by the serial command 'write byte' (use the new 'send byte' command instead),
  • Addition of Endianness option for serial command 'send',
  • Report a warning instead of an error when measured frame rate differs from system-reported frame rate,

Fixed:

  • Memory leak with time-varying stimuli (introduced in 1.4),
  • Serial command 'write byte' sending a char instead of decimal value,
  • Staircase criterion estimation when p-up larger than n-down,
  • Problem with exporting data containing accented characters,
  • Gamma correction bug in Mac OS X.
Version 1.4  Released: June 21, 2012

New Features:

  • Support for OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion),
  • Graph Properties palette to better customize the appearance of the results plots with user-defined styles,
  • Custom bootstrapped fitting of measurements as function of independent variables (with error bars, goodness of fit reported),
  • Built-in functions for fitting measurements as function of independent variables (Linear, CSF, VSM, TvC),
  • Support for spatial dithering to improve luminance and color resolution (up to 14 bits per component),
  • Export menu to Session Table to save whole session data (Saving To Text File with automatic naming based on exp-subject-session and support for multiple selections, if Excel or Numbers export the data sets are concatenate in a single file),
  • Addition of Save text data file Report preferences option to save .txt session data file along other session files,
  • Custom settings for Staircase data under Plotter (show/hide reversals, threshold computation based on troughs and/or peaks, arithmetic vs geometric mean and std),
  • Left Gummel and Cauchy psychometric functions,
  • Ishihara Stimuli category (with customizable target and ground appearance),
  • Support for imported images as parameters in Custom Stimulus through the "Image File" unit (allows advanced image processing!),
  • scale(X,min,max), length(X), mag(X) and phase(X) functions for Custom Stimuli,
  • Access to mouse position through [XMOUSEPIX], [YMOUSEPIX] variables in screen coordinates (ie pixels) and [XMOUSEDEG], [YMOUSEDEG] variables in visual field coordinates (ie deg relative to fixation),
  • Support for Mouse-Driven stimulus coordinates (ie move your stimuli in real-time using your mouse!),
  • Support for Spyder 4 colorimeter from DataColor,

Feature Improvements:

  • Support for expression-based eccentricity and ISI in Procedure Trial Properties,
  • Support for expression-based definition of Bayesian parameters (Alpha, Beta, Levels),
  • Addition of Automatic option for direction of fitting function in Method of Constant Stimuli,
  • Addition of None option for fitting function in Method of Constant Stimuli,
  • Better estimation of staircase performance threshold criterion using up-down step asymmetry and absolute vs relative mode,
  • Addition of [NFCINDEX] system variable (allows the customization of each instance of a n-FC trial),
  • Automatically wait for input release with stop decision in Adjustment procedure (useful when multiple adjustments are run sequentially),
  • Stimuli kept as fixation are now excluded from multiple instances of the same stimulus in spatial nAFC procedure,
  • Better detection when stimulus generation failed because of memory limitation,
  • More robust conversion between color spaces for luminance and contrast-based chromaticity,
  • Support for expression-based chromatic specification,
  • Information about luminance and color resolution and minimum contrast/luminance step available by clicking on the Color Space label in common properties of stimuli panel,
  • Less restrictive expression checking in custom stimulus,
  • Support for stereo format in RDK stimuli,
  • Addition of Async Dyn and Sync Dyn options in MEF and SSS stimuli (ie when using time-varying elements),
  • Full support for spatial nAFC for MEF and SSS stimuli,
  • Support for dynamic position in MEF elements (applied relative to the axes defined by the local rotation each element),
  • Addition of a Seed parameter for the random distribution in the MEF grid (available by clicking on the Distribution label),
  • Addition of On-Off flicker mode in dynamic composing,
  • Addition of a button in Dynamic Composing events to indicate whether the duration of the event is used for the individual stimuli (help to save memory and computation time when dealing with cyclic stimuli),
  • Support for Reverse Sequential order option in Multimedia selection,
  • Addition of Weber and Michelson contrast specifications to image Multimedia events,
  • Better support for Japanese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese characters in Text Multimedia stimuli,
  • Background luminance now indicated in cd/m^2 in the Experiment Display Properties panel,
  • Addition of Show Cursor option in Display settings,
  • Support for Green-Magenta and Magenta-Green anaglyph,
  • Addition of CIE 1976 u'v' chromaticity diagram in Calibration panel,
  • Addition of TTL command to Serial devices communication (output TTL on DTR pin 4 or RTS pin 7 of DB9 serial connector, with associated value specifying the pulse duration in frame number),
  • Addition of byte option to Serial devices communication (in decimal, binary or hexadecimal format),

User interface improvements:

  • Subject and Group notes shown in Session Information panel,
  • Prevent duplicated names for Subjects and Groups,
  • Addition of subject-specific parameters table in Subjects Panel,
  • Do no show warning alert anymore when deleting subject or group with no associated sessions,
  • Show an alert when attempting to edit an "Undefined" event,
  • Indicate pixel size in arcmin in log setup summary,
  • Use Unitless as the default unit instead of Integer in Custom Stimulus,
  • Explicit specification of the units for parameters in Custom Stimuli: Spatial (deg), Spatial (arcmin), 1/Spatial (cpd),
  • Report error if no stimulus found for the current condition in Association/Conditional Composing events,
  • Report mismatch between numbers of provided responses and number of instances in spatial nAFC,
  • Use color calibration associated with the Experiment display settings in stimulus preview and show a warning sign next to Color Space properties if color calibration has not been performed yet,

Fixed:

  • Registration issue under Mac OS X 10.7 at first launch from Setup Assistant (Important: Before installing under OS X 10.7, make sure to create a 'Psykinematix' folder in '/HD/Library/Application Support/' as an Admin user),
  • Use custom background in stimulus generation (see Onset options in Stimulus Control Settings palette),
  • Ambiguous definition of methods conditional order,
  • Problem of za, zr, zg,or zb not being computed in time-varying custom stimuli,
  • Problem with expression checking when za is the only output in custom stimuli,
  • Problem with variables starting or ending with spaces and with accented characters,
  • Problem with variables used in specification of SSS element distribution coordinates,
  • Problem with non-sticking properties when editing Multi-Element Stimuli,
  • Unexpected editing of pop-up menu entries for Serial and Network data properties,
  • Integer conversion in Custom Stimulus preview,
  • Crash that occurred when selecting the None option for auditory signals in Experiment Control Settings,
  • Crash that occurred when plotting a marker beyond the boundary of the graph,
  • Crash that occurred when loading some images,

Documentation:

  • Addition of Stereoscopic Stimuli to Tips section,
  • HTML5 widgets for Psychometric Functions and Staircase Simulation,
  • Updated "Demos, Examples & Tutorials" in Storage area of the Designer Panel with new demos,
  • Whole documentation as an iBooks Textbook for iPad included (to install: drag the PsykinematixUserGuide.ibooks file in iTunes and sync with your iPad).
Version 1.3.2  Released: July 25, 2011

Psykinematix is now fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion")!

Fixed:

  • Registration issue under Mac OS X 10.7 (Important Note: before upgrading to Mac OS X 10.7 make sure to deactivate your Psykinematix copy),
  • Bug that prevents editing of some events' properties (introduced in 1.3.1),
  • Corrupted preview in SSS stimuli when using the $ prefix in variables inside the element coordinates specification.
Version 1.3.1   Released: July 23, 2011

New Features:

  • Addition of a "Custom" option for levels selection in Method of Constant Stimuli,
  • Support for multiple responses through sequential Procedures for Method of Constant Stimuli,
  • Luminance readings and Gamma corrected intensities available inside the Gamma calibration drawer (click on the "light bulb" icon),
  • Support for vectorial to scalar functions 'std' and 'clip' in Custom Stimuli Expressions,
  • Addition of "Uniform" and "Gaussian" options for Jitter distribution in MEF and SSS Stimuli,

Feature Improvements:

  • Support for cascading Association Composing events (so multiple parameters can be used to specify properties of external stimuli),
  • Addition of "Analytical with mixing" distribution type in SSS stimuli (to recreate the elements mixing found in MEF stimuli),
  • Support for i1Pro spectrophotometer from X-Rite (Gamma and colorimetric calibration),

User interface improvements:

  • Prevent duration field to be edited if the edited event is part of a dynamic composing,
  • Select by default the most relevant results tab in Plotter panel (eg, Fitting),
  • Better placement of error message in Custom Stimulus,

Fixed:

  • Crash due to a huge memory leak when using complex SSS stimuli,
  • Crash when dealing with texture-based stimuli based on time-varying contrast/luminance with duration as a variable,
  • Crash with invalid number of elements in RDK, MEF & SSS stimuli,
  • Problem with variable names containing spaces,
  • Problem when specifying different time-varying coordinates for each entry of Multimedia stimuli,
  • Problem with importing session data from Subjects panel to Plotter panel when not creating subject folder (see option in Admin preferences panel),
  • Duplicated entries in Results table for Constant Stimuli Method,
  • Missing analysis of multiple inputs statistics when not based on press/release cycle,
  • Scrambled order in multiple inputs statistics for same condition in results table,
  • Missing support for repetition of single condition,
  • Problem when editing new composing events without embedded events.
Version 1.3   Released: May 3, 2011

New Features:

  • Support for Frame Sequential Stereoscopic presentation (i.e.based on stereo pairs presented sequentially at a high frame rate, typically 120 Hz, using for example a 3D graphics card such as the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 in combination with shutter glasses like the REALD StereoGraphics CrystalEyes),
  • Support for fORP device in keyboard mode as input device and scanner trigger,
  • Support for Spyder 3 colorimeter from DataColor,
  • Addition of Sampled-Shape Stimuli (SSS) Multi-Element category (eg to create Gabor-sampled patterns, path stimulus, etc),
  • Support for Shape Stimuli in RDK, MEF and SSS Multi-Element stimuli,
  • Conversion of Multimedia images: grey conversion, RMS normalization, and contrast scaling,
  • Addition of Custom modulation type in Custom Stimuli to specify the stimuli directly in the selected color spaces (through zr, zg, zb output variables),
  • Support for xyY, Yuv, L*u*v* color spaces,
  • Addition of randseries(a,b,c,d) stochastic function (binary stochastic time series with random on and off periods),
  • Support for (probability)val1,val2,val3, (probability)min:max, (probability)min:nbsamples:max formats to specify the probability of change between the generation of 2 successive random values,
  • Capture of frame sequence during stimulus display loop by holding the ESC key and saving it through the "Save Screenshot As.../Image | Movie" menu options with number of grabbed frames indicated in the session log,
  • Addition of Preview Size defaults in Preferences Panel,
  • Addition of Glass Patterns distribution in MEF Multi-Elements stimuli (so element orientation remains tangent to a circle centered on the field irrespectively of the spatial jitter),
  • Addition of Shuffle Sync/Async lifetime options in MEF Multi-Elements stimuli,
  • Option in Admin Preferences to detach drawer-based windows (Experiment Log in Designer panel and Data Tale in Plotter panel),

Feature Improvements:

  • Support for variable/expression-based temporal frequency and duration in Dynamic Composing,
  • Support for stereo formats and dynamic position in Multimedia images,
  • Addition of Events tab in Data Table under Plotter panel to provide timing information about each event,
  • Support for Yes/No Procedure not relying on correct/incorrect paradigm by leaving empty the expression table (could be used with method of constant stimuli to estimate the point of subjective equivalence),
  • Support for [SELECTION] system-defined variable inside decision expressions in Discrimination procedure,
  • Better handling of transparency specification in Custom Stimulus through the za output variable,
  • Emit a warning if a stimulus under the control of a procedure event has its offset settings set (which would interfere with the subject's response),
  • Better support for bit-stealing calibration (addition of Mono 9.6 and Mono 10.8 in Guns popup menu to check Gamma correction),
  • Better estimation of VRAM usage and report of the maximum used VRAM in session summary,
  • Improved report of results obtained with a method of constant stimuli,
  • Improved threshold estimation when varying performance criterion in Plotter panel,
  • Support for expression-based association parameter in Association Composing,
  • Full Gamma calibration (measurement & correction checking) available for single gun or all of them,
  • Unique display name created from the EDID information if available and added to the calibration information,
  • Emission of a warning when starting a session if there is a discrepancy between the current display and the expected unique display name from the calibration information,

User interface improvements:

  • Option for renaming previously saved sessions when changing an experiment title (instead of automatically creating a new expt ID),
  • Support for condition re-ordering in Conditions Method,
  • Support for re-ordering of independent variables in Experiment Control Settings,
  • Independent variables shown as rows instead of columns in Data Table of the Plotter Panel,
  • Export selected rows or columns from Data Table in Plotter Panel,
  • Copy to pasteboard of double-clicked cells from Data Table in Plotter panel,
  • Threshold marker plotted during manual fitting in Plotter Panel,
  • Threshold, Alpha, Beta shown in graph legends with at least 2 significant digits,
  • Addition of a progress Indicator at the right side of the top toolbar to indicate when Psykinematix is busy performing a task (eg, exporting movie, Gamma calibration, etc),
  • Specification of the Data Folder moved to the Preferences Panel under the Admin tab (was previously editable in the Session Information Panel),
  • Support for relocating session information when importing sessions that cannot be found from Subjects Panel (eg: because the location of the data folder has changed),
  • Enabled but missing devices (because disconnected) do not emit an error anymore, just a warning,
  • Addition of a "Google Translate" submenu in the Help Panel that provides translation of the on-line documentation in more than 50 languages,
  • Addition of an Help button in Stimulus Control Settings Palette,
  • Maximum number of intervals/force-choices increased to 64 in Procedure Panel,
  • Improved control of table size in Subjects panel,
  • Better handling of locked properties in Multi-Elements Stimuli panel,
  • Error message emitted if a dependent variable already declared as an independent one,
  • Improved detection of the x-axis range to display when negative alpha value reported in Plotter panel,
  • Better handling of displayed precision for values set using stepper controls,
  • Help buttons now display their information in a non-modal window,
  • Duration and onset now expressed in seconds in Timeline Composing,
  • Unique display name displayed in the bottom portion of the calibration panel,
  • Most recent session results added at the top of the session table in Plotter panel (no more scrolling down needed to access it),

Fixed:

  • Not working dynamic coordinates for MEF stimuli,
  • Not working dynamic polar coordinates,
  • Inconsistencies between display preferences and calibration panel (eg, Adding/renaming calibration not applying to current selected resolution but to default resolution selected in Display Preferences),
  • Inappropriate default value for grating phase (was wrongly set to 0.5 instead of 0 or 90),
  • Default lifetime of MEF or RDK elements sometimes set to 0 instead of 'infinity',
  • Default active keyboard not used as default ESCape device,
  • Not correctly updated variables (in particular position) for Shape Stimuli,
  • Incorrect angular modulation in Checkerboard Stimulus,
  • Interference between response and trigger signal when using Button Box (ioLab or Cedrus),
  • Reset of color space modulation type in some circumstances,
  • Spurious "NA" entries inside Trials column of the Data Table in Plotter Panel,
  • Crash when changing order of images or movies in Multimedia Stimuli,
  • Error emitted with Onset parameter left over from Timeline embedding,
  • Not precise enough estimates of threshold & slope with very small parameter values,
  • Occasional crash when editing the name of the calibration configuration,
  • Broken trigger functionality (through stimulus control settings) when using procedure event,
  • Non-sticking issue when editing temporal frequency in "Contrast Reversal" mode in Dynamic Composing panel,
  • Handling of hue angle higher than 359 (now modulo 360),
  • Crash when changing ME elements events without editing the ME event to validate the changes,
  • Evaluation error generated when chromatic tri-stimulus values specified with expression using the [TIME] variable only,
  • Scaling of time-varying alpha (now properly scaled to 0-100% range),
  • Problem of font/size selection in Defaults Preferences,
  • Crash when changing calibration configuration name,
  • Field Update Sync lifetime option not correctly detected in MEF Multi-Elements stimuli,
  • Fixation mark shown during RT pre-stimulus delay despite being disabled in procedure trial properties,
  • Crash when the same variable is declared multiple times (eg in trials condition and other method),
  • Rare crash in Plotter panel when changing the x-axis limits,
  • Markers from previous fit remaining if last fit failed in Plotter panel,
  • Association Composing not always working when using variables taking random values,

Documentation:

  • Updated "Demos, Examples & Tutorials" in Storage area of the Designer Panel with SSS examples in Multi-Elements subsection in the Stimuli section,
  • Addition of Visual Acuity Experiment Tutorials.
Version 1.2.3   Released: July 21, 2010

New Features:

  • Beta support for frame sequential stereo through quadbuffer compatible graphics card (eg, QuadroFX) or blue line technique,
  • RSVP (Rapid Sequential Visual Presentation) for Multimedia Image stimuli,
  • Multiple Input Collection in Discrimination Procedure (useful in binocular rivalry studies),
  • Easy way to take a screenshot during an experiment (press ESC to abort and the last stimulus frame is automatically grabbed, then use "Save Last Frame As..." in the File menu to save it to an image file),

Feature Improvements:

  • Optimization in generation of time-varying "Custom Stimulus",
  • Addition of Sync and Async options to lifetime mode in MEF stimulus (for "On-Off" and "Field Update" options),
  • Support for monocular and disparity formats in MEF x-axis position,
  • Support for variable/expression-based mean and range for pedestal values in nFC Procedure event,

Fixed:

  • Crash occurring with Gaming device used to terminate stimulus outside of Procedure event,
  • Crash occurring when reordering newly added entries in the Multimedia Text table,
  • Memory leak in "Custom Stimulus" expression with time-varying parameters,
  • Memory leak with sounds used in "Auditory" feedback,
  • Missing implementation of Integer unit conversion in "Custom Stimulus" expression's parameters,
  • Missing display resolutions when OSX reports frame rate with a fractional part,
  • Missing trial information for nAFC procedure and Adjustment method when used outside an embedding method,
  • Order problem for RT measurements in "Trials" data table (introduced in 1.2),
  • Issue with variable-based shape stimulus (introduced in v1.2),
  • Unwanted precomputation of expressions that use random values,
  • Compatibility problem between dynamic interval and the various stereo modes,
  • Expiration warnings for calibrations not supported on the current display setup,
  • Text preview not being immediately updated in the Multimedia Text table.
Version 1.2.2   Released: April 30, 2010

New Features:

  • Addition of dshiftp() function to apply positive disparity shift with subpixel resolution to matrix variables in "Custom Stimulus" expression box,
  • Addition of ArcMin unit for parameters in "Custom Stimulus" panel,
  • Direct access to Psykinematix "Facebook" group from "Help" section to share news, tips, etc.,

Feature Improvements:

  • Support for subpixel resolution through bilinear interpolation in 2D shift() function,
  • Addition of 'Control-Click' option to "+" button in Multimedia stimuli panel to indicate new folder where items reported as "Not Found" have been moved to,

Fixed:

  • Unnecessary red highlights of ';' and '=' symbols in "Custom Stimulus" expression box,
  • Bug with interpretation of "Label" field for NetStation triggering information (introduced in 1.2),
  • Crash due to time-varying parameters in "Custom Stimulus" expression (introduced in 1.2).
Version 1.2.1   Released: April 15, 2010

Feature Improvements:

  • Addition of Font & Size options for fixation marks,

Fixed:

  • Lack of update for some texture-only parameters (like contrast) in MEF stimuli with multiple elements (bug introduced in v1.2).
Version 1.2   Released: April 5, 2010

New Features:

  • Support for ioLab Button Box,
  • Support for Cedrus RB-x30 Response Pads & Lumina Response Pads for fMRI through LSC-400 controller,
  • Estimation of clock drift for button box with internal timer for high accuracy response time measurement (eg, ioLab & Cedrus button box),
  • Support for clock-based Trial Alarm (as provided by some button box like the ioLabBox) controlled by [TAPERIOD] variable and reported as "TA" input,
  • Support for HID Gamepad and Joystick devices (only buttons supported so far),
  • Support for "Pause" option before triggering the next trial,
  • Addition of "Response in Post-Stimulus Interval only" option in Procedure trial properties,
  • Addition of fixation mark position parameters in Control Settings of Experiment Properties Panel,
  • Support for random selection of stimulus fixation whose duration and change probability controlled by [FIXDURATION] & [FIXPROB] variables,
  • Addition of "Stippled Lines" option to Shape Stimulus,
  • Addition of cminmax(value,min,max) clamping function (clamps value to the range defined by min and max),
  • Addition of randg(mean,std) scalar function to generate random real numbers according to from a Gaussian distribution,
  • Addition of gnoise(x,m,u,s,g) 2D Gaussian noise generation function from Gaussian distribution with mean m and standard deviation u, with seed s and granularity g,
  • Addition of ifft(magnitude,phase) inverse Fourier transform,
  • Addition of spatial versus Fourier preview for Custom Stimulus,
  • Addition of "Fourier" unit for Custom Stimulus parameters,

Feature Improvements:

  • Support for variable/expression in Multimedia sound volume,
  • Support for time-varying OpenGL orientation and scaling rendering settings for RDK and MEF stimuli,
  • Support for variable format [<name>:<value>] in expression evaluation inside math editor,
  • Use of provided default values (variable format [<name>:<value>]) to generate OpenGL preview,
  • Report start time for condition-defined trials in results table,
  • Pre-computation of stimuli that depend on independent variables with real values,

User interface improvements:

  • Addition of progress footer and summary tab in Calibration Panel,
  • Support for multiple lines expression in stimuli parameter text fields (with ; separator to indicate new line in expression editor),
  • Prevent drag & drop of experiment events into other events (except the Undefined 'folder' kind),
  • Popup menu provided to list the available inputs for the selected self-paced device triggering the next trial,
  • Better handling of condition design (default value for added variables and trials count updated whenever values are edited),
  • More precise plotting of Bayesian data fitting,
  • Addition of a more useful message for expression error in Custom Stimulus,

Fixed:

  • ESC keypress not being detected when using mouse and button box as response devices or while waiting for self-paced next trial,
  • Overlapping problem for pre- and post-stimulus fixations with time-limited response,
  • Terminating response not being detected during RT pre-stimulus interval,
  • 1 pixel artefact in RT pre-stimulus interval,
  • Mismatch between report and plotting of threshold estimate for decreasing psychometric functions,
  • Duplicate entries in resolution menu from Experiment Display Settings Panel,
  • Memory leaks across the application,
  • Problem of slow quitting,

Documentation:

  • Addition of the Supported External Devices section,
  • Updated "Demos, Examples & Tutorials" in Storage area of the Designer Panel with a subsection Creating Custom Stimuli in the Techniques section.
Version 1.1.1   Released: January 20, 2010

Critical Bug Fixed:

  • Prevent data loss due to too short experiment IDs,
Version 1.1   Released: December 2, 2009

New Features:

  • Full compatibility with Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"),
  • Direct access to support, forum and feedback web pages from Help section,
  • Support for anaglyph stereo modes (Red-Green, Red-Blue, Red-Cyan glasses),
  • Support for dynamic micro-elements in Multi-Element Field (MEF),
  • Support for time-varying contrast and color space in dynamic elements in Multi-Element Field (MEF),
  • OpenGL preview and export to movie for Static & Timeline Composing,
  • Addition of [TRIAL] system-defined variable to keep track of the trial index (useful when creating brain mapping stimuli),
  • Addition of [NFC] system-defined variable to keep track of the target location in nFC procedure,
  • Addition of [NYQ], [FRATE], [WFOV] and [HFOV] system-defined constants,
  • Addition of round() function,
  • Addition of degtopix() and pixtodeg() functions (useful for stimuli control at pixel level),
  • Addition of deg() and rad() conversion functions between polar units,
  • Addition of cmin() and cmax() clamping functions,
  • Addition of rnd pseudo-constant to generate random real numbers in [0,1] range,
  • Support for onset trigger information output to serial devices (see stimulus control settings palette),

Feature Improvements:

  • Support for Staircase method with absolute step size,
  • Addition of optional maximum value constraint to Staircase parameter (clamping or abortion),
  • Number of reversals for estimation can now be specified in adaptive Adjustment procedure,
  • Addition of "Maximum Trials" termination criterion for Adjustment procedure,
  • Support for expression evaluation in trigger information output (see stimulus control settings palette),
  • Better detection and report of evaluation error (see tip tool with error in expression table for Custom stimuli),
  • Improved computation of time-varying stimuli that also change in size,
  • Better reports of frame timing information (# of missed frames reported as a warning on an event-basis),
  • Support for calibrating any available configuration (not only to the default one selected in the Display Preferences),
  • Removal of the display configuration in Calibration panel when deleting the last remaining calibration,
  • Estimation of required video memory when computing stimuli with an error message emitted if not enough memory available,
  • Improved handling of serial devices with a warning emitted when devices not enabled from I/O Preferences or experiment I/O Settings,

User interface improvements:

  • Addition of an optional linear vs log10 scale for x,y axes in result plots,
  • Data not plotted anymore outside the axes-defined rectangle in Plotter panel,
  • Axes range automatically selected based on available data points in Plotter panel,
  • Only display configurations valid for the currently attached monitors available in the Calibration panel,
  • Color of selected resolution and calibration in experiment display settings indicates up-to-date, expired or absence of calibrations,

Fixed:

  • Activation problem after setup under non-admin account,
  • Crash in calibration panel occurring when trying to calibrate a display configuration with a missing display,
  • Crash or unexpected behavior occurring when using [TIME] or [DURATION] as a parameters value,
  • Crash occurring when an unknown trigger device is specified in stimulus control settings palette (would occur when exporting an experiment to third-party),
  • stimulus control settings palette gets reset when changing the trigger device,
  • Memory leak with aborted sessions,
  • unlocked events undeletable until relaunch,
  • Read/write status of event properties not in sync with the lock icon across all the property panels,
  • Locking event from properties panel did not remain after closing the panel (permanent unlocking still done from the designer panel),
  • Experiment properties not all inspectable when locked,
  • Missing Help menu under Mac OS 10.4,
  • Slightly inaccurate Nyquist frequency,
  • Loss of fractional part in degree to pixel conversion,
  • Edge effects in some Grating and Checkerboard stimuli,
  • Too large wedge size unreliable in Checkerboard stimuli,
  • Tiny visual artefact at fixation produced during pre-stimulus random duration when measuring RT in procedure,
  • Non-sticking onset of selected event in Timeline (gets replaced from previously edited Timeline),
  • Synchronization problem between frame duration and some properties when editing events (Timeline onsets and TF precision in Dynamic Composing),
  • Displayed geometry information for a display configuration not always in sync with the latest calibration,
  • Undeletable calibration when clicking the '-' button in the calibration panel,
  • Issue when using the [TIME:?] and [DURATION:?] single expressions,
  • Loss in lower bits precision when using the irand function,

Documentation:

Version 1.0 RC5   Released: June 5, 2009

New Features:

  • Support for limited-lifetime in Multi-Element Field (MEF),
  • Support for element specific rotation as function its position in Multi-Element Field (MEF),
  • Support for dot specific speed and direction in Random-Dot Kinematogram (RDK),
  • OpenGL preview and export to movie for Multi-Element stimuli (RDK & MEF) and Dynamic Composing,
  • Addition of 'za' output in Custom Stimuli to specify stimulus transparency,
  • BETA support for "Mono++" and "Color++" modes provided by CRS Bits++ (please send feedback!),
  • Support for onset trigger from composing stimuli in Dynamic Composing (except for fused mode),
  • Support for absolute and relative step size in Adjustment procedure,
  • Support for multiple step sizes in Adjustment procedure,
  • Support for Keypad input devices (Adesso keypad AKP-150, Targus Keypad PAUK10C),
  • Support for stereoscopic stimuli (monocular, binocular and dichoptic presentation) in vertically split display setup (free-fusing, mirror-based stereoscope, or dual video input goggles),
  • Support for Scaling Factor in Rendering properties (Control Settings Palette),

Feature Improvements:

  • Addition of [$<varname>] variable format to specify the latest value set for a random variable (useful for random variables used in different events),
  • Support for expression operands in range format (<exp1>:<exp2>),
  • Support for expression-based values for minimum and maximum levels in Method of Constant Stimuli, mean and range of initial value for Staircase and Adjustment,
  • Support for interleaved adjustments,
  • Support for randomly ordered interleaved methods and adjustment procedure,
  • Support for multiple values (separated by comma) associated with the same event in Association Composing,
  • Faster generation of dynamic grating-like, checkerboard-like and custom stimuli,
  • Better error detection when using Wizard,

User interface improvements:

  • Change in selection of event subcategory is now prevented by default, but can be forced by pressing simultaneously the Control key,
  • Automatic expanding of experiment hierarchy after run-time errors occurs,

Fixed:

  • Problem with duplicated columns in results data table,
  • Failing Gamma correction,
  • NetStation crash at closing time,
  • 'Keep As Fixation' option not always working for Shape stimuli,
  • Fixation mark overlapping bug in first trial after text stimulus,
  • Changes in stimulus duration not being saved,
  • Crash occurring with variable-based duration in Visual stimuli,
  • Problem with manual entries of Gamma readings not being validated except when using a keypad,
  • Problem with duplicate estimates provided by the adjustment method in Root data level (Plotter panel),
  • Problem with use of conditional variables in decision for Discrimination and Yes/No procedures,
  • Selection problem in Conditions method,
  • Problem with results report for interleaved Bayesian and Constant Stimuli methods in Root data level (Plotter panel),
  • Run-time error when creating experiment with Wizard,
  • Crash with Japanese language,
  • Run-time error when no EDID information available for old CRT display,
  • Stimulus glitch when specifying log sampling in Bayesian method,
  • Problem with non-sticking default properties for Multi-Element Stimuli (RDK and MEF),
  • Default input device now properly selected when no other device has been explicitly defined,
  • Serial device missing from the trigger pop-up menu in control settings palette,
  • Bug with editable data folder in 'Session Information' panel which could lead to data loss for the current session,
  • Cosmetic bug in Control Settings for MEF/RDK stimuli,
  • Stimuli preview now uses the display settings from experiment event if available (Display preferences otherwise),
  • Crash with selection of modulation mode other than contrast,
  • Problem with contrast not being used when creating preview of statically composed stimuli,
  • Bug with Src and Dst Mode not being disabled except for Custom mode in rendering control settings,
  • Bug preventing stimuli editing when using expressions in some formats,
  • Error reported when using dependent variable in time-varying expression,
  • Apparent computer freeze due to too large generated stimuli (validity of geometry calibration now checked based on FOV range before running the experiment),
  • Issues with validation of pending text field entries in Control Settings Palette,
  • Graph sampling problems for fitted data in Plotter panel,

Documentation:

  • Additional "Multi-Elements" Demos in "Demos, Examples & Tutorials 1RC5".
Version 1.0 RC4   Released: August 4, 2008

New Features:

  • Addition of "Automatic" or "Self-Paced" option for triggering next trial through Keyboard or Mouse in Experiment Control Settings,

Feature Improvements:

  • Addition of submenus in Category popup menu in Designer panel, so the user knows what events each category provides,

Fixed:

  • Fix a problem with Stimulus Selection not always correctly reported in Results,
  • Fix a problem with Discrimination being limited to 3 decisions instead of the specified number (DiscN),
  • Fix highlighting of multiple parameters in Expression functions for Custom Stimuli,
  • Fix a problem with sound feedback not working correctly on some systems,
  • Proper reset of Control Settings in Palette when generating an experiment using the Wizard,
  • Fix crash that occurred with invalid or undefined keyboard inputs,
Version 1.0 RC3   Released: June 12, 2008

New Features:

  • Support for vectorial to scalar functions (min, max, mean, sum) in Custom Stimuli Expressions,
  • Support for 9.6 or 10.8 bits monochromatic modes through Bit-Stealing,
  • Addition of Time-Limited Response and "Ends stimulus/trial" options in Trial Properties of Procedure panel,

Feature Improvements:

  • Support for Middle Mouse button (3rd button, eg: wheel button),
  • More information about display settings (resolution, calibration, screen) for the current session shown in the Experiment log,
  • Better Gamma correction for LCD displays that show a saturating transfer function (through rejection of saturating luminance readings),
  • Addition of more options for Multimedia Selection (Sequential, Random w/o repeat, Random & reshuffle),
  • Addition of [SELECTION] system-variable and "Selection" columns in the Trials section of the data table for the first level of the session results (to report stimulus selection in Multimedia),
  • Most recent "Stimuli, experiments and tutorials Examples" now automatically loaded in Storage area,

User interface improvements:

  • Addition of a Visual Indicator indicating the Geometry/Gamma/Color Calibration is in progress,
  • Valid variables highlighted in blue and invalid strings highlighted in red in Custom Stimulus Expressions,
  • Direction for radial and angular motion in RDK stimuli now specified through a popup menu (Inward/Outward, Clockwise/Anticlockwise),

Fixed:

  • Registration information correctly set in "About" box,
  • Quadrant shift now correctly applied when performing a 2D convolution in Fourier space (through conv function),
  • Display size now properly updated in Display Preferences when display index changes,
  • Fix a crash that occurred when Timeline event is a part of a Conditional or Association event,
  • ISI parameter in Trial properties of Procedure panel now correctly saved and retrieved,
  • Fix a crash that occurred when aborting the experiment during the very first trial,
  • Direction textfield and slider for uniform motion now correctly synchronized in RDK panel,
  • Fix complaint about session with similar index when changing the location of the Data folder,
  • Fix registration bug when clicking twice the Activation/Deactivation button,
  • Notes for previously run session not anymore overwritten by subsequent sessions,
  • Mapping of keys 1-9 from keypad now corrected,
  • NetStation Events Stream properties in Control palette not anymore reset when inspecting stimulus properties,
Version 1.0 RC2   Released: May 1, 2008

New Features:

  • Support for comparison ( < > ≤ ≥ ≈ ≠ ) and logical ( & | ) operators in Expressions,
  • Statistics on frames duration and skipped frames now reported in the Experiment log drawer,
  • Addition of a checkbox in Onset settings to prevent the standard fixation mark to be displayed, for example when instructions are displayed,
  • Size of polygon shape stimuli can now be specified either as radius (center-to-corner) or side size,
  • Preview exporting supported in Static Composing (copy & image),

Feature Improvements:

  • Selection of Achromatic mode in Experiment Display Settings enforces now an achromatic conversion (R+G+B)/3 at rendering time,
  • Support for variable/expression-based position coordinates in Multimedia,
  • Both response (Hit, Miss) and subject's input (key/button naming) are now provided for each trial in the Trials section of the data table for the first level of the session results,
  • Condition and variables can now be easily duplicated in Conditions method by pressing the Control key and clicking on the '+' button,
  • Support for Conditional and Association composing in Timeline,
  • Support for both contrast (low/high) and luminance (dark/light) modes in RDK and MEF Stimuli,

User interface improvements:

  • Newly created events inside a group event are now automatically shown and selected,
  • Category created events inside a group event are now automatically shown and selected,
  • Calibration warning in Experiment display settings acts now as a button to reset the display settings,

Fixed:

  • Calibration uses now the resolution specified by the popup menu selection rather than the default one set in the Display Prefs,
  • Chromatic tri-stimulus values can be properly specified using variables and expressions,
  • Common properties correctly reset with default values when creating new stimulus,
  • Age of newly added subjects correctly initialized with default month.year birth date,
  • Title in Category column is now more clearly visible when selected,
  • Preview with contrast now correctly rendered when background color is not gray,
  • Combination of multiple criteria for decision made in Discrimination and Yes/No procedures now correctly evaluated,
  • Decision criteria in Discrimination and Yes/No procedures now correctly reset and initialized,
  • Chromatic Mode and Color Space set in Defaults Preferences are now kept consistent with each other,
  • Size parameter in Custom Stimuli can now be used in expressions.

Documentation:

  • Included tutorials also available online,
  • Tutorial entitled "Creating Filtered Noise Stimuli" added.
Version 1.0 RC1   Released: February 21, 2008

Release Candidate 1

UA-20124358-1