Comparison with existing software and limitations ================================================= Many general-purpose systems have been proposed over the years to present visual and other kinds of stimuli and control behavioral experiments, each with its own strengths and limitations. Below we sum up some of the systems which are currently maintained, and we present how they compare to Stytra. Bonsai ------ `Bonsai `_ is a visual programming language built on top of the language C\# with a reactive, dataflow-based paradigm. In Bonsai, users with little experience in programming can implement their own tracking pipelines and basic stimuli. By default Bonsai offers visualization of any data processing node, and custom visualizers. In principle, due to the generality of Bonsai, all functions of Stytra could be implemented within it. Still, implementing many features would require using a programming language uncommon in science (C#). Also, the use of several Python libraries, such as DeepLabCut, is in many cases not possible, as only a subset of Python is supported in C# through the IronPython interpreter. Psychophysics Toolbox --------------------- `Psychophysics Toolbox `_ offers a large toolbox to build visual stimuli and stimulation protocols. The toolbox has been developed with human psychophysics in mind, in particular visual and auditory psychophysics. It provides large control over display and sound hardware, and many tools for acquiring responses from the subject through the mouse and keyboard. Still, its application is restricted to the stimulus design, as it does not offer any camera integration or animal tracking modules. This makes the toolbox ill-suited for developing closed-loop stimuli where behavior and responses of the animal need to be fed back to the stimulus control software. Moreover, it relies on the proprietary software package Matlab. Psychopy -------- `PsychoPy `_ is a library similar to the Psychophysics Toolbox, written in Python. It provides precise control over displaying visual and auditory stimuli (not currently implemented in Stytra), and a set of tools for recording responses through standard computer inputs (mouse and keyboard). Due to its wide use in human psychophysics experiments, it has a larger library of stimuli than Stytra. However, it is also purely a stimulation library without video or other data acquisition support. Moreover, it does not provide a system for easy online control of stimulus parameters, an essential feature for closed-loop experiments. MWorks ----------- `MWorks `_ is a C/C++ library to control neurophysiological experiments, developed mostly for (visual) neurophysiology in primates and rodents. It provides support for building complex tasks involving trials with different possible outcomes, and contains a dedicated library for handling visual stimuli. Due to being implemented in a compiled language, higher and more consistent performance can be obtained than with our package, which is Python based. However, it is not designed for online video analysis of behavior, which is essential for behaviorally-controlled closed-loop experiments. Furthermore, while scripting and expanding Stytra requires pure Python syntax, experiments in MonkeyWorks are coded in custom high-level scripting language based on C++. Most importantly, it runs only on MacOS, which depends on Apple hardware, available only in a minority of laboratories. ZebEyeTrack ----------- `ZebEyeTrack `_ covers a small subset of Stytra functionality - eye tracking and eye-motion related stimulus presentation. It is implemented in LabView and Matlab, which adds two expensive proprietary software dependencies. Running an experiment requires launching separate programs and many manual steps as described in the publication. The tracking frame rate is limited to 30 Hz in real-time while Stytra can perform online eye tracking at 500 Hz, and Stytra's performance is mainly limited by the camera frame rate. Limitations ----------- Support for different hardware would require some extensions in the architecture. Simultaneous use of multiple cameras is currently not supported, but this requires a minor rewriting of the frame dispatching module. We will both continue to extend Stytra's capabilities and support any contributions that expand the library to cover a wider range of experimental conditions. Finally, it is important to note that the choice of Python as a language would make it difficult to obtain millisecond-level or higher temporal precision (e.g. for closed-loop electrophysiology). To this aim, existing solutions based on compiled languages should be employed, such as :cite:`ciliberti2017falcon` (a system for closed-loop electrophysiology in C++). Another possibility would be to combine Open Ephys and Bonsai, as in :cite:`buccino2018open`.