What?

This intensive 2-day workshop will offer a unique opportunity to learn about the fundamentals of interactive web applications and about the essential concepts and skills required to develop online behavioral experiments or clinical instruments using various approaches:

Javascript frameworks such as Express to host experiments, jsPsych to run them, Mongoose to retrieve the data, D3 to display the results.

Game engines such as Godot to extend the space of possibilities and maximize engagement.

Crossplatform development to translate rapidly web apps into Android/iOS apps.

AI tools to integrate remote cognitive testing with emerging technologies such as large language models (GPT-3) or computer vision (Tensorflow.js).

The program includes talks and practical sessions during which the participants will get familiar with various concepts and state-of-the-art techniques of the field. Participants will have the opportunity to draft original projects by themselves or in small groups.

The ambition of the workshop is to provide participants with solid application backbones and templates to pursue their project and to experiment by themselves.. or with us!

How?

The workshop is free and RobustCircuit covers all costs (housing and meals) except transportation.
We seek to have a diverse and balanced group. Therefore, we strongly encourage people of any gender and origin, people with disabilities and people belonging to visible or non-visible minorities to apply.
We invite participants to come with their laptop, but we have a few to provide for those who do not possess one.

To apply, just fill this form. It will ask you for an updated CV and a brief explanation of why you want to participate. If you have any question, get in touch with us.

Places are limited!

All selected and non-selected candidates will be notified before April 1st.

For who?

The workshop is designed for both academic researchers willing to learn how to program web experiments and for developers willing to discover a new area of application.

We plan to select 10 to 12 participants based on their experience and motivation.

Where and when?

The event will take place from May 5th (17h) to May 8th (11h) just after the regional FENS meeting at Salgados (Albufeira, Portugal).

The Salgados Beach Villas are at walking distance from a beautiful sandy beach and offer all commodities (see here for more info). One of the villas will be set to host the workshop.

Participants will be hosted in double bedrooms with all comfort.

Workshop team

Daniela Domingues
RobustCircuit, PhD student @ Paris Brain Institute
  • Organization
  • Coordination

Romain Ligneul
RobustCircuit, Principal investigator @ Center for Neuroscience Research of Lyon
  • Key concepts and methods in experimental psychology
  • Hosting, running and logging cognitive experiments on the web
Eric Lacosse
Research fellow @ Champalimaud Foundation
  • Integrating AI in web apps
  • LLMs, speech synthesis, Tensorflow.js
Quendera
PhD student @ Champalimaud Foundation
  • Gamifying behavioral experiments
  • Big data approaches in psychology research
Catarina Lopes
Gameplay Programming @ ZA/UM studio, formerly Assistant Professor @ ICPA
  • Introduction to Unity
  • Gameplay & UX

Full program

17:45

End of FENSRM


17:00 - 18:30

Drinks & snacks around the swimming pool

Flexible time to register participants

18:30-19:00

Introduction

Presentation of RobustCircuit, its goal and its future.
Outline of the workshop program and scope.


Opening talk




20:00-21:00

Light dinner

Veggie options included

21:00-00:00

Ice-breaking party

08:00 - 09:30

Breakfast


09:30-10:45

Concepts and methods in cognitive science

Ultra-compact introduction to brain sciences
Behavioral read-outs, substractive methods, model comparisons, etc.
Promises and pitfalls of remote cognitive testing

11:00-13:00

How to serve an online experiment from your laptop?

Familiarization with HTML5 and Javascript by the example
Introduction to jsPsych, the leading framework for web experiments
Connecting to a MongoDB database and retrieving the data

13:00-14:00

Lunch

Veggie options included

14:00-15:00

Gamifying cognitive experiments

Using smartphones to collect (big) datasets
Live dissection of the experimental game Hexxed


15:00-16:30

Afternoon break

Enjoy the beach or the swimming pool!

16:30-17:30

Gameplay principles and development in Unity

How to engage users and keep them hooked
Introduction to Unity, the leading cross-platform framework for game development.


17:45-19:30

How to run a simple Unity-based game in the browser or on the smartphone?

Design a game environment
Animate stuff and set up controls
Retrieve the data!

19:30 - onwards

Participants
Speakers

Creative hackathon - Night Session

Two or three teams assisted by the speakers
Create an application for science or just for fun
Infinite pizzas!

09:00 - 10:00

Breakfast


10:00-11:00

The synergy between AI, VR and cognitive science

Use cases of AI and VR for experiments
Large language models: tools or subjects?


11:15-13:00

Integrating AI in browser and smartphone apps

REST API calls to GPT-3
Online inference from deep learning models with Tensorflow.js

13:00-14:00

Lunch

Veggie options included

14:00-20:30

Participants
Speakers

Creative Hackathon - Afternoon session

Finish your Hackathon project
Manage your time and breaks as you wish
Ice creams and snacks!

20:30-21:30

Dinner

Veggie options included

21:30-onwards

Cocktails and closing party!

09:00 - 10:30

Breakfast


11:00

Departure