Synchronized data logging and analysis system for laboratories experimenting with human participants

Contracting authority is publishing direct award notice for 'Synchronized data logging and analysis system for laboratories experimenting with human participants'.

BACKGROUND INFO In Tampere University (‘TAU’) experiments are conducted where human users of information systems participate by using the system while they are monitored via cameras, eye trackers, heart rate, skin conductance and other psychophysiological measurement systems. Presently, these activities from multiple faculties are combining inside the university into one infrastructure entity called Nexus. The aim in this re-organization is to pool resources in order to have less facilities with low use and on the other hand the most used infrastructures could be efficiently replicated in multiple instances to have enough capacity to serve the large pool of researchers. NEED There is a laboratory space available with 10 cubicles that can be used simultaneously for one or multiple experiments. When running multiple experiments simultaneously the control center for the cubicle data collection is a bottleneck. It is inconvenient for multiple researchers to work around the same desk. A system is needed that allows the setup of multiple control points for the cubicles. The data collection system must enable dynamic allocation of cubicles to control centers and then be able to collect the multiple data streams with synchronized timestamps on per-project accounts on a server. The needed data streams include video showing the user, screen capture video from the computer the user is using, heart rate measurements in a modality that allows analyses based on heart rate variation metrics, skin conductance measurement, eye tracking data. Metrics derived from these, e.g. facial expression recognition, cognitive load measurement from pupil and illumination data, etc. are also highly useful. The data saved in the system must remain within the university to satisfy data security considerations. Some of the data may be personal in nature and thus it cannot be stored, e.g. in cloud services beyond our control. The system needs to be easy to use. Researchers have different technical profiles. Some need extremely simple systems, while others routinely implement self-made information systems in their studies. Our need in this system acquisition concerns specifically the less technical end of the researcher population that is not comfortable combining data from multiple sources and programming scripts for temporal re-scaling and synchronization in the data-analysis phase. The lab is currently equipped with a system that relies on physical screen capture devices and IP-cameras. Software for screen capture and streaming is preferred for convenient re-scaling before streaming for storage. Also, software system for the new setup makes it possible to keep the old system operational simultaneously. This enables us to transition to the new system in stages. At present we will update eye tracking, PPG, ECG and SC measurement equipment for the whole lab, but acquire the fully integrated measurement system for only 4 of the 10 cubicles. Later when users move to the new system, the number of seats can be increased. MARKET ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION FOR DIRECT AWARD There are many systems that offer a part of what is needed. e.g. there are video surveillance systems for both on-premises and cloud implementations. Also, there are multiple manufacturers of psychophysiological data recording hardware and software with on-premises and cloud systems for data streaming, storage, and processing. Also, screen capture software and video streaming systems are available in many different configurations. Systems that combine these and guarantee synchronized timing information in an easy-to-use product are rare. In fact, NoldusHub by Noldus Information Technology B.V. is the only system contracting authority (university) could find that satisfies the needs to a significant degree in an easy-to-use browser-based user interface. University’s conclusion is to purchase a 4-seat NoldusHub setup and psychophysiological measurement equipment for all 10 cubicles from Noldus.