bmlTUX: Design and Control of Experiments in Virtual Reality and Beyond
bmlTUX: Design and Control of Experiments in Virtual Reality and Beyond
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DOI：
10.1177/2041669520938400
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发表时间：
2020-07-01
期刊：
影响因子：
1.9
通讯作者：
Troje, Nikolaus F.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bebko, Adam O.;Troje, Nikolaus F.
虚拟现实技术的进步使其成为视觉和感知研究人员的一个有价值的新工具。从头开始编写虚拟现实实验可能很困难且耗时，因此研究人员依赖Unity游戏引擎等软件来创建和编辑虚拟场景。然而，Unity缺乏用于控制实验的内置工具。现有的第三方加载项需要复杂的脚本来定义实验。这可能很困难，需要先进的编码知识，特别是对于多因子实验设计。在本文中，我们描述了一个新的免费开源工具，称为BiomotionLab Toolkit for Unity Experiments（bmlTUX），它提供了一个简单的界面来控制Unity中的实验。与现有的工具相比，bmlTUX提供了一个图形界面来自动处理组合、平衡、随机化、混合设计和试验顺序的阻塞。该工具箱开箱即用，因为几乎不需要编码就可以创建简单的实验。此外，多个设计配置可以通过拖放界面进行交换，使研究人员能够反复测试新配置，同时保持轻松恢复到以前配置的能力。尽管它很简单，bmlTUX仍然高度灵活和可定制，迎合编码新手和专家的一致好评。
Advances in virtual reality technology have made it a valuable new tool for vision and perception researchers. Coding virtual reality experiments from scratch can be difficult and time-consuming, so researchers rely on software such as Unity game engine to create and edit virtual scenes. However, Unity lacks built-in tools for controlling experiments. Existing third-party add-ins requires complicated scripts to define experiments. This can be difficult and requires advanced coding knowledge, especially for multifactorial experimental designs. In this article, we describe a new free and open-source tool called the BiomotionLab Toolkit for Unity Experiments (bmlTUX) that provides a simple interface for controlling experiments in Unity. In contrast to existing tools, bmlTUX provides a graphical interface to automatically handle combinatorics, counterbalancing, randomization, mixed designs, and blocking of trial order. The toolbox worksout-of-the-boxsince simple experiments can be created with almost no coding. Furthermore, multiple design configurations can be swapped with a drag-and-drop interface allowing researchers to test new configurations iteratively while maintaining the ability to easily revert to previous configurations. Despite its simplicity, bmlTUX remains highly flexible and customizable, catering to coding novices and experts alike.