Mantra Spiral Task (MST)

A Mantra Spiral Task shows a spiral over a black screen or an image slideshow, with your session lines displayed one at a time in the centre of the screen, in the order you wrote them. Optional distractor lines can pop up around the screen or fill it as a wall of text.

Like the Brainwash Spiral Task, this is the classic rapid-fire brainwashing visual. The difference is control: a Mantra task always plays its lines in sequence, which lets you build a directed, narrative experience rather than a random one.

The session completes once every line has been shown. The subject is then returned to the project page, or moved to the next item in a playlist or schedule.

Content tab

Lines

The lines shown in the centre of the screen, top to bottom. Type a line and press Enter to add it. Each line stays on screen for the Line Duration below.

Distractors (optional feature)

Short lines shown at random positions around the screen. Keep them to a word or a short phrase; they reinforce the theme in the subject’s peripheral vision. See Distractors.

Spiral tab

Choose Media/Image Spiral, WebGL Spiral or Scripted WebGL Spiral and set opacity, colours and speeds. See Spirals and, for your own shader, GLSL spirals.

Images tab

Upload images and choose between the Full-screen Cycler and Scatter display modes. See Images.

Settings tab

Line Duration on Screen (in Milliseconds)

How long each line stays up before the next one. Default 3500. Lower values force the subject to read faster; higher values let each line sink in. This can be changed mid-session from YSS with [setting.spirals.line_duration=…].

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

Scripting

MST is the natural home for YSS. Because lines play in order, you can group them into blocks, loop or jump between blocks, change pace and colour per block, and animate the spiral as the script progresses.

Tips

  • A small set of images tightly centred on the theme makes the session feel curated; a large set keeps it fresh after many viewings. Note the per-session image limits in Images.

  • The project page shows an estimated duration next to MST sessions: the line count multiplied by the line duration.