Before starting Laidlaw, I had a very vague idea on what exactly research looked like. But now, almost three weeks into my project, I think I can confidently say that the work of a researcher entails a lot, from decision-making to hands-on computer science. There are numerous hours spent closed in a Lab while sitting at a desk with multiple screens to prepare the stimuli. This is basically what my first weeks were made of. After discussions and discussions on how we would run the experiment, we got to the point of putting it into practice.
It was a long journey, not going to lie. I began by getting to know the software I was working with, OBS Studio, Vegas Pro and UNITY, tools that enabled me to create the morphed stimuli. Some very complicated machines with tons of settings that even at this point I do not fully comprehend. As with all experiences, tiny problems that might have costed me some valuable hours were also present;) I had to redo many stimuli as they were dropping frames, making them unreadable for MATLAB (a very interesting and complex software for programming experiments). It was indeed tedious work. But it was also fun. Getting to discover and work with such applications was a challenge I willingly accepted and embraced. I had moments of wanting to stop, and I did by taking breaks. Having to check for all small details and movements does require a lot of patience and endurance. And I had it all. I went on and completed all 404 stimuli for our experiment. And I could not have been prouder of myself. On top of that, I had to work in extreme conditions, and when I talk about extreme, I talk about the heat waves that hit the UK in the last week. It was tremendously hot outside and inside and the work conditions had to quickly be adapted.
However, here we are, all done with the stimuli and almost ready to begin the data collection. My aim is to test just over 90 individuals, from as many varied areas and environments as I can. We need a great range of people as to make our results as valid in real life as possible. Will update you guys as soon as everything starts flowing.
See ya soon!
Yours,
Alessia.