IAEA 2024 - Creating reproducible stimuli for your visual aesthetics research using OCTA [workshop]

Abstract

The Order & Complexity Toolbox for Aesthetics (OCTA) is a recently developed, freely available open-source Python toolbox and point-and-click online application to create visual stimuli containing multiple elements, with tools to manipulate regularity (order) and variety (complexity) along multiple element features (e.g., shape, size, color, orientation) in a controlled manner (Van Geert, Bossens, & Wagemans, 2023). The main goals of OCTA are (a) to make stimuli used in research on visual aesthetic appreciation more easily reproducible and adaptable, and (b) to provide a tool to systematically vary different types of order and complexity, without being limited to very simple visual displays. OCTA goes beyond static displays including black-and-white geometrical shapes and allows for more flexibility and ecological validity without losing parametric control. For instance, images, complex shapes, and dynamic feature changes (e.g., in color or orientation) can be included in the stimuli. The standard output produced by OCTA is vector-based, which means that the image quality stays the same even when the image is enlarged). This is ideal for experiments on the web and the creation of dynamic, interactive interfaces and stimuli. If preferred, also pixel-based output formats (i.e., png, pdf) can be produced. For an overview of all available resources related to OCTA (incl. manual and many example stimuli), please check https://elinevg.github.io/OCTA/. By attending this workshop, you will learn how to create reproducible stimuli for your research using the OCTA toolbox. Through active exercises, you will become familiar with both the basic and more advanced functionalities of OCTA. Depending on your preference, you can work with the Python toolbox or the online point-and-click application. The workshop will also introduce how these OCTA stimuli can be used in different types of online experiments. Please bring your own laptop for the workshop. Given that places are limited, we ask to register your attendance upfront. To receive information about how to register for the workshop, please indicate your initial interest in attending when registering for IAEA. The workshop itself is free of charge, but registration for the 2024 Biennial Congress of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics is required. If you have additional questions about the workshop, please contact Eline Van Geert for more information.

Date
May 9, 2024 16:00
Location
Palma de Mallorca, Spain