Michael Adcock, Max Eichbaum, Evan Luckey
INFO 498A Final Project
Spring 2008

About
-----

The Flip-Switch prototype was implemented using HTML, JavaScript, and a few images.  It also includes a simple PHP script used to save collected data to the server.  For more information about its creation and purpose, please see: http://students.washington.edu/adcockm/FlipSwitch/


Compatibility
-------------
The prototype has been tested and works fine on Opera 9.5 (fastest), Firefox 2.0.0.14, and Safari 3.1.1 (Windows). It partially works on Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0, but has cirtical functionality bugs and is noticably slow.  We recommend using Opera 9.5 for best performance, especially on slower computer systems.


Server Requirements (optional)
-------------------
The only requirements are a web server with a recent version of PHP installed, and about 300KB of space.  Log files are created on the server and consume roughly 50KB of space per session.

The prototype can also be run locally without a web server.  However, experimental results cannot be saved automatically.


Installation
------------
Extract the archive to a directory on your webserver.  There is no configuration required.  Log files will be saved in the same directory, and are accessible fromt he results page via a web browser.


Usage
-----
- Load the prototype.htm page in your browser.
- Optionally, you can choose to toggle the arcs on/off.  This may improve performance, but removes a visual cue that could be important to the design.
- Press the "Start Experiment" button to begin.
- The display will change and you will be presented with an arrow.  Move the mouse pointer to the arrow to begin the experimental trial, and then move the pointer to the highlighted (red) goal target.  Timing information is saved starting from when the pointer touches the arrow to when the goal target is fully activated.
- Once the target is selected and activated, the display will reset and another arrow will be presented.
- This process will repeat 20 times, approaching each target from the four cardinal directions.
- Once all 20 trials are complete, a results screen will be shown.  The mouse paths for each trial are drawn on the screen, color coded against the goal target for easy visual inspection.  Other information is also displayed.
- The text area also shows results, including a comma-delimited list following the pattern of: <trial>,<goal>,<approach from direction>, <time of event>, <target involved in event>, <GOAL or DISTRACTOR>, <event type>.  This data can be copied to Excel for further analysis and data preparation.
- To save the data to the server (assuming you are not running locally), enter a "subject id" in the box and click the save button.  A file with this name and the timestamp of the experiment will be created on the server.  You will then be preented with two links -- either return to the prototype or go to the results listing page.
- The results listing page is also available from the main prototype page under the "start experiment" button.


Acknowledgements
----------------
Special thanks to Walter Zorn and his High Performance JavaScript Vector Graphics Library, without which this would have been impossible!