Visual Segment Designer v2.00 - "See" your settings before you upload

ADMIN NOTE:
See latest posts for most recent version.

Procyon AVS Users:

I've developed an Excel 2007 based tool to assist in the intelligent design of the visual segments of the Procyon AVS. I have not tested it with earlier or later versions of Excel, but it will likely work on later versions. It has taken me almost 2 months and well over 100 hours of sometimes very frustrating :BangHead: coding time ..... but IMHO the end-result is well worth it. I won't go into the gory details in this initial posting; but, if you have any questions about the code or mathematics used, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail or reply to this thread.

In order to run this Excel tool, you must enable macros by doing the following:

1. Go to Office Button, then Excel Options
2. Check Show Developer tab in the Ribbon, then click OK
3. Click the Developer tab, then Macro Security which opens the Trust Center
4. Click Macro Settings on the left
5. Click the Enable all macros.... radio button, then click OK

Here are the key features of this tool:

• Duplicates the Procyon Editor's settings
• Allows individual color channels to be turned on or off
• Allows selection of sine, triangle or square wave for color channel waveforms
• Generates waveforms, including changes in frequency, amplitude, dc offset, duty cycle (square wave only), phase and sweeptime (limited to 10s)
• Generates a 256 level color gradient, based on the resultant combination of one or more of the color channels
• Color gradient can be enabled or disabled

Please, let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to make a general comment about the tool.

Enjoy,

Mark Turney
Ocala, FL
mdt9111@yahoo.com

After looking again at the Procyon Editor settings, I realized that it starts up with the Square waveform as the default, and also that the order of the wave table dropdown box is: Sine, Square, & then Triangular.

My tool settings were slightly different; therefore, I changed it and believe it now matches the Procyon Editor exactly. The newest version of the tool is attached.

Additionally, I have attached some screen shots, in the event anyone doesn't yet have Excel 2007 or later, but wants to see what to expect from the tool.

Once again, enjoy!
MT

Wow... :eusa_clap:

Thanks for the kind reply synaesthesia:).

I didn't expect this to take as long as it did (isn't that always the case :confused:). During the development work, I have only been using the Procyon's factory sessions. Now that the tool is functional, I will be getting back to continued learning about brain waves, entrainment, AVS & it's applications :read2: .... with the goal of creating useful sessions.

Please, utilize the tool and let me know if you find any issues. If there is a future demand, I would consider developing a free-standing application. In the meantime, please let others know about this tool :director: .... it is as a whole is free to use and redistribute (with the caveat that the code is copyrighted and should not be utilized for commercial use without my permission :nono:).

Thanks again,
MT

Hi, Mark--

I'll second Synaesthesia's "Wow!" You've clearly put a great deal of work into this project, and thanks for sharing it with our community. The color-mix bar at the bottom is very interesting, and we clearly need to manufacture eyes-open (ganzfeld) eyewear to fully take advantage of this tool (though you can simulate this in part by cutting out little paper ovals which are sized to slip into the top and bottom of the Procyon ganzframes, slightly curved over the LED cover. In a darkened room, this works surprisingly well). I've also tested this under Office 2003, with similar security setting, but it simply generated a stack of VB error windows. Works fine, so far, under 2007.

All the best,
Robert

Hi Robert,

Thank you for the feedback - it's nice to hear another positive response to the tool. Over the past couple of months, I've given a lot of thought to the eyes-open vs eyes-closed response to the colored LED's, and the resultant perceived colors. One thing that immediately comes to mind is the fact that we have blood flow in our eye lids, and I'm assuming this shifts the hue slightly toward red (like shining a flashlight through your hand) .... please, correct me if I'm wrong. If you have any quantitative data regarding a shift in hue, I would be happy to incorporate it into the tool to account for that shift when eyes are shut (like they are supposed to be :icon_wink:).

Regarding the Excel version, I had a feeling the VBA code would not be fully compatible with earlier versions. One bit of coding difference that immediately comes to mind is the way colors are generated in Excel 2003 vs 2007. Excel 2003 uses color 'indexes' if I recall correctly. In Excel 2007, colors are created in a way that fits the RGB model perfectly (R(0-255), G(0-255), B(0-255)).

:icon_question: One area of the tool that I would appreciate specific feedback on is the DC Offset. Does my implementation of this look correct?

Thanks again and Best Regards,
Mark Turney

Well done, Mark!

As a programmer I can appreciate what sort of effort it must take to build something like this. Very cool to use Excel which saves doing a lot of the heavy lifting in creating the graphics. Writing this in VB or some other language I would think would be a massive undertaking to create those graphics.

Very impressive. Thank you as well for sharing this with the community; it definitely deserves a sticky! :)

Andy,

Thanks for the kind words and for making this thread a sticky. I'm glad the tool is being so well received. I give neuroasis credit for originally turning me on to the idea of using Excel as a platform, as he had begun a similar project a while back. In my professional life, I have a fairly extensive background in using VBA with Microsoft Excel and Access, so it made sense to leverage that knowledge for this personal project.

I think many folks will conceptualize AVS better via pictures than they can with a table full of numbers or even a graphed waveform. That was my reason for developing the gradient .... show someone what they will see across a time period. Then, those numbers can simply be plugged into the Procyon Editor. I see it as mapping the qualitative (color gradient) to the quantitative (Procyon Editor settings) and then back to the qualitative (LED output and resultant perceived colors).

Looking forward to more commentary and feedback,
Mark

Hey MarkT,
Thanks so much for working on this! You have made a valuable contribution to development for the Procyon. It looks very impressive. I'll test it out more and report what I find.

Scott

Hey Scott,

It's good to hear from you again, and I'm glad you are going to try out the tool. Please, do let me know what you think after some testing. There were certainly some challenges in development (especially the duty cycle) as well as some overall limitations by using Excel. But, all-in-all, the advantages of using Excel far outweighed the disadvantages ... not the least of which would be that I would probably only be 10% done by now if I had tried to code this as a free-standing app :icon_wink:.

I'm currently working on some additions to the tool - dropdown boxes for frequency and color ranges that will automatically populate the fields ... a sort of starting place for AVS noobs like me. And, a reverse button that will flip the start and stop fields, as happens in the Procyon Editor when you add a new segment (F3).

Take care.
Mark

The latest version of Visual Segment Developer is complete. I've added a number of new features:

• Default values - resets spreadsheet to same values with which the Procyon Editor starts

• Randomize values - let's you "play"

• Reverse values - "flips" the start and stop fields just as the Procyon Editor does when hitting F3 (new segment)

• Read Me file

• Save to PDF - to reference later when entering values into the Procyon Editor

• Pre-defined brainwave frequencies - based on:

• Gamma 30 - 60Hz (Consciousness, anasthesia stops this frequency range production)

• Beta 13 - 30Hz (Active, busy, anxious thinking and active concentration)

• Alpha 7 - 13Hz (Relaxation (while awake))

• Theta 4 - 7Hz (Dreams, deep meditation, hypnosis)

• Delta <4Hz (Deep, dreamless sleep)

• Schumann 7.83Hz (Resonant frequency of earth between surface and ionosphere)

You'll need to unzip the attached file into your My Documents folder - that will enable the Read Me file to launch from the tool, as well provide a location for saving the PDF files.

Additionally, here are some screenshots of the various new features:

Attached is a minor update to the tool, correcting the Randomize feature. In v1.50, Randomize was generating the same sequence of numbers upon each closing/opening of the spreadsheet. In other words, if you opened the spreadsheet & ran numbers for run 1, run 2, run 3, etc., then closed the spreadsheet, reopened it, and again ran run 1, run 2, run 3, etc. - you would get the same sequence of numbers. They were really only random the first time they were run.

This issue is fixed in v.1.52, creating a truly random sequence of numbers every time you click the Randomize button.

Enjoy ;)!

Hey MarkT and all who use this wonderful tool,

I have made an AutoHotKey (which is a free windows macro launcher) script to automatically copy the values from VSD and paste them into the Procyon editor. At this time, it only copies the value for Frequency, Amplitude, DC Offset, Duty Cycle, and Phase. They must be selected in Excel. So select cells B3 to G7. A simple macro could be made that selects the proper cells but I will leave that to MarkT.

The Hotkey is Win-Alt-Ctrl-p . This shouldn't conflict with any other key mappings.

To use, download AutoHotKey and install it. Download the attached script and place it in a location you can remember. Right click on the script and choose Run Script from the menu. You should now see a green button in your system tray with a white H in it. This is the AHK program. The key shortcut should now work.

The AutoHotKey script copies the selection, and switches to the Procyon editor (which must be open), it then selects each value box and sets its value to those that were in VSD. At this point you can test it on the Procyon.

This makes it pretty easy to try out a bunch of values based on the visual feedback and randomization provided by VSD. Tell me if it works for you or ask any questions.

Cool addition to the project - thanks for the link and attachment. I'm going to try it after the holidays when I get some free time.

Thanks again!!

Three Part Video Series on Basic Functions of the Visual Segment Developer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHr3smTKulk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V5F0TNkQb8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_y595vMs2k

Scott,

If you get this message, I tried to send you a PM .... will send to Andy to hopefully get to you.

Thanks,
Mark

OMG Mark. This is AMAZING!!!! Thank you!!!

:icon_pray::eusa_dance:

M.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marisa

OMG Mark. This is AMAZING!!!! Thank you!!!

:icon_pray::eusa_dance:

M.

---

Thanks for the nice words Marissa, and thank you too for all the contributions you have made to the forum before I ever even knew Mindplace existed. This is a wonderful field of study ... I'm really just a newbie myself. But, the contributions by you and others who really specialize in the workings of the brain are helping me fill in the gaps in my knowledge.

Wait until you see the next version .... coming very soon. Scott (Neuroasis) has made some great suggestions for enhancements to the product and they in are in progress as we speak ..... stay tuned ;)!

With the collaboration of Neuroasis (Scott), Visual Segment Designer v.2.00 is here :eusa_dance:! I have included some screen shots below; but in a nutshell, these are the new features:

- Randomization of individual parameters can now be switched on/off.
- UPPER and lower limits of selected randomized parameters can be user-defined.
- Waveform graph now correctly displays clipped waveforms, based on DC Offset setting for each color channel. The gradient graph always took into account the fact that the color channels were limited to a range of 0-255; however, the waveform graph displayed the "out of range" values. This better enables the user to visualize what is actually happening with the color generation.
- You can upload all of the frequency, amplitude, dc offset, duty cycle and phase information to the Procyon Editor with the click of a button. One important note is that you still must manually set the sweeptime and type of waveform (sine, square or triangle) for each channel. But, being able to upload the other values is a huge time saver, and a major THANK YOU goes to Scott for writing the script which pastes the selected values into the Procyon Editor. Please, note the instructions below....

Instructions:

1) Download and extract the attached zip file to your My Documents folder (needs to be there specifically).
2) Go to http://www.autohotkey.com/download/ and download/install the top executable on their site. The script that Scott wrote which works with the AutoHotKey software is included in the attached 20120112_VSD.zip file below.
3) Start the Procyon Editor.
4) Start the Visual Segment Designer, and have fun :eek:!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6...2dd38194_b.jpg
VSD_02 Jan. 12 16.04 by M Turney, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/6...e67e70d8_b.jpg
VSD_03 Jan. 12 16.30 by M Turney, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6...87bf0993_b.jpg
VSD_20120112 by M Turney, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6...15bd0f38_b.jpg
VSD_1_80_3 by M Turney, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6...db1a7c0b_b.jpg
VSD_1_80_1 by M Turney, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6...7c0d0ba9_b.jpg
VSD_1_80_2 by M Turney, on Flickr

Take care, and enjoy!

Wow! This sure will make things even easier. Thanks! :eusa_clap:

M.

Great work once again Mark. This new features make it a even more useful app for the Procyonerds.... You rock, my friend!

Hey Mark;

Amazing work as ever! Thank you once again for donating this fabulous tool. :)

One small bug: On clicking the "copy to Procyon Editor" button, I get "file not found".
Does the ahk file need to be renamed? It's currently in the same folder as the spreadsheet.

Unzip all 3 files into My Documents, including the ahk file, and then it should work ... Also required for readme file ;).

Wonderful work, Mark, and thanks to Scott for his contributions as well... I've included mention of VSD in the new Procyon Editor guide. Fame should surely follow... :-)

Thanks for the nice words, and for the feedback and testing support.

A couple of minor updates - please, replace your current files with the three in the attached zip file:

- You should not have to install the AutoHotKey software on your PC, as the ahk script has been converted to an executable.
- You can extract the zip file anywhere you want, as long as the three files are in the same folder. They no longer must be extracted to My Documents.

Enjoy!

PS - Thanks to Andy for some programming assistance ;)!

Hi, Mark--

For some reason the 'copy to Procyon' macro is scrambled en route to the Procyon Editor in my setup... running Excel 2007 on win7 on my Mac via boot camp/Parallels. Will test on another system when at work tomorrow. Weird, huh?

Cheers,

Robert

It works on my Mac on Parallels... is it the .exe (which I haven't tested yet) or the original script?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Robert Austin

Hi, Mark--

For some reason the 'copy to Procyon' macro is scrambled en route to the Procyon Editor in my setup... running Excel 2007 on win7 on my Mac via boot camp/Parallels. Will test on another system when at work tomorrow. Weird, huh?

Cheers,

Robert

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Hi Robert,

I wish I had a Mac to test on. Currently, I'm only a PC guy (with an iPhone and iPAD ;)) .... do you mean that the script is putting values from the Excel spreadsheet into the wrong fields in the Procyon Editor? Maybe Scott would be nice enough to try it out, as I believe he's a multi-platform guy.

Please, let me know what you find out Scott. If it's something occurring on the Excel side, that I can correct with some conditional logic or otherwise, I will be happy to do so.

Thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by neuroasis

It works on my Mac on Parallels... is it the .exe (which I haven't tested yet) or the original script?

---

Thanks for testing Scott. You & I must have been replying at the exact same time. Will be interesting to see if Robert is using the ahk or exe (based on ahk) file.

Had the same problems with the exe and ahk... turns out that the issue had to do with my use of Procyon Editor 2.1. Works like a charm with Procyon Editor 2.3. Now if VSD could send an entire session to Procyon... :-) (just kidding).

There's some innovative brains working on it .... ;)

Mark,

First of all, thank you for this great software creation. I'm looking forward to creating some new sessions
and to have the visual component that you've added is vunderbar!

Second, will this work with Open Office 3.X? I want to use it with my netbook on the road and don't have
Office on it. I've just gotten a new Procyon and want to design some new sessions.

Third, is this software to be used with the Procyon editor or instead of?

Thank you in advance,
Suz, MNLP, CHt

Hello Suz and Welcome to the Procyon community ;)!

Regarding compatibility with Open Office, I have not tried it. However, I highly doubt it would be compatible, as there is so much Excel 2007 specific VBA code behind the scenes. It doesn't even play nice with Excel 2003 because of differences between the versions.

The VSD is definitely independent of the Procyon Editor, as opposed to a replacement. The Procyon Editor is still required, as it has the links to the Procyon hardware.

However, to save time, neuroasis has created a script which copies settings from the VSD to the Procyon Editor. Please, see the latest version of the VSD, and from within it choose - Copy to Procyon.

Thanks for your interest in the VSD, and MindPlace.

Hi Mark my uncle is letting me use this awesome tool I want to incorporate my own music can you show me what program to download i tried your one and it wouldnt work thanks!

To incorporate your own music you must have a digital music player (mp3 player, smartphone or computer) and connect an audio cable from the device to the AUX jack on your machine. If you wish for the lights to sync with the music then you will need some tracks that contain AudioStrobe signals. Search this site for some free ones or visit http://www.mindplace.com/audiostrobe to purchase AudioStrobe CDs.

Hello Everyone,

This program is great, but unfortunately, doesn't run on pre-2007 Office versions. I tried with LibreOffice, with no success. Is there another possibility to run this program, or could it be designed as a free (open source) program ? Besides, will these graphic previsualizations be integrated in the next Procyon Editor version ?

All the best
Will

Hi Will,
I was hoping MarkT would answer but he seems out of touch at the moment. I think that several of the formulas or formatting depend on features in the 2007 or later. Excel provides a lot of built in tools that make features like those in the Visual Segment Designer relatively easy to do.
I have always thought of it as a great tool and as a template for the direction we would like to take in future editors. So the features you see are kind of what we are planning to incorporate at some point in the future.
It sure makes Procyon session design much easier to visualize.
Scott

Hello Scott,

I'm glad to hear that a future version of the Procyon editor will incorporate these functionalities. MarkT made a great contribution to the community for sure. By the way, as I suggested to Andy in a private message, I think another implementation would be fantastic for the Procyon: the possibility to plug the ThoughtStream as with the Proteus, but taking advantage of the RGB leds. I can imagine fast paced red flickers when stressed out or high on adrenaline, green and slow pulses when calmed down, smooth non flickering transitions in blue and purple when in deep states, etc., with of course the corresponding sound pitches. It seems that the Mind Workstation makes this possible with EEG devices, so could such a complex functionality be possible with the Palm Sensor ?

Best,
Will

I only have Open Office on my Win 7 PC and the Segment Designer was working fine last time I tried it but I don't have the latest version yet.