Brainwash Spiral Task (BST)

A Brainwash Spiral Task shows a spiral over a black screen or an image slideshow, with lines picked at random from your list and flashed word by word in the centre of the screen. Optional distractor lines can pop up around the screen or fill it as a wall of text.

This is the classic media trope of being brainwashed by a rapid-fire stream of images, visuals and text.

How the session ends

The Number of iterations is the number of lines that will play. Each time a line finishes, the player picks another line at random and counts one iteration. When the count reaches the configured number the session completes and the subject is returned to the project page, or moved to the next item in a playlist or schedule.

Because every line is chosen at random, some lines may play several times and others not at all in a single run.

Content tab

Lines

The pool of lines to draw from. Type a line and press Enter to add it. Each line is flashed one word at a time.

Tip: since lines are chosen at random, you can create a “mini-session” by writing one long line containing several suggestions in the order you want them read. The subject receives them in sequence before the player picks the next line.

Iterations

Number of iterations for this session: how many lines play before the session completes. Long lines take longer, so the same number produces a longer session with wordier lines.

Distractors (optional feature)

Short lines shown at random positions around the screen. See Distractors.

Spiral tab

Choose Media/Image Spiral, WebGL Spiral or Scripted WebGL Spiral. See Spirals and GLSL spirals.

Images tab

Upload images and choose the Full-screen Cycler or Scatter mode. See Images.

Settings tab

Word Duration on Screen (in Milliseconds)

How long each word stays up. Default 500. This sets the pace of the whole session together with the image switch frequency. YSS can change it mid-session with [setting.spirals.line_duration=…], which in a BST re-paces the word tick.

Plus any optional features you added: Distractors (Basic), Distractors (Wall), Audio, Custom CSS and YSS.

Scripting

YSS works in BST sessions with one important difference: lines are still chosen at random, so block order, goto and controller have no effect on sequence. Use blocks to attach entry settings and styles to a group of lines, and inline commands to play sounds or drive the spiral when a particular line comes up. Each inline command takes one word slot and shows as a blank flash.

Duration estimate

The project page shows an estimated duration next to BST sessions. It is produced by simulating the random draw several times and taking the most common result; sessions with very high iteration counts use fewer simulations to keep the page fast.