This guide describes the installation procedure for Mind-Body Training Tools biofeedback and neurofeedback software, and also the basics of how to get up and running. For most users the process is simple and involves running a single script, so please don't be put off by the length – much of the material you probably won't need to read.
The software is provided as a suite of applications. There is at least one application per biofeedback modality (muscle tension, heart rate variability, etc.), and the applications are grouped into modules which are sold separately.
The applications are started from a program called the Platform, which manages the running of the applications and the session data generated. You can generate session reports from the Platform once you exit an application.
The suite of biofeedback applications was developed using software called BioEra. BioEra is a visual design tool for processing and displaying physiological data in real time. Each application is implemented as a “design” within BioEra – a design is simply a particular way of gathering data, processing it and presenting it as feedback. BioEra is covered in more detail in section 4.6.
For many users, the software is provided on a USB memory stick, which also functions as a licence key for BioEra. You cannot run the BioEra applications without having this key plugged in – so be careful not to lose it!
Other users will download the software from the internet as a compressed (zipped) file. You'll need to extract all the files into a folder, then run the installation from there.
The applications cannot start without a valid signature file – this is simply a means of preventing unlawful copying of the software. If your software is provided on the BioEra stick, the signature files will be already correctly installed (on the stick). If you downloaded the software, the signature files will be sent separately and you'll have to copy them to the right place. See section 3.2 for details of how to do this.
A trial version of Mind-Body Training Tools is available. The installation and set-up of the trial version is almost the same as for the full version, with only minor differences. These are covered in section 3.5 below.
The most recent version of the software has been tested and works with Windows versions 10 and 7. It may also work with older versions of Windows. I recommend you have the latest service packs installed.
It requires at least a 1 GHz processor speed, a minimum of 512 MB of RAM, and approximately 2 GB of disk space.
If you have a BioEra dongle, you need an available USB port.
Of course you'll need a biofeedback device that the software supports. An up-to-date list of supported devices is available on the StressResilientMind.co.uk website.
The installation process involves (i) installing the Platform program, (ii) installing BioEra, (iii) copying the BioEra designs and associated files, and (iv) installing your BioEra signature files.
There is a script which automates the whole process. For most people there should be no need to be concerned with the details, but they are described here in case something goes wrong, or for those who wish to know.
If you're installing the full version after using the trial version, you should first uninstall the trial version – see sections 3.3 and 3.5 below.
If your software is provided on a BioEra dongle, insert it into a free USB socket. You’ll notice that when you first insert it, Windows recognises it as a memory device and you will see a new drive available from within Windows (e.g. from within Windows Explorer / File Explorer). I strongly recommend you preserve the files on the drive, in case you need to reinstall the software in the future.
The installation script is named “mbtt_installation” – it has the extension “.bat” as technically it is a windows batch file. If you're installing the trial version it's called “mbtt_trial_installation”.
Run this script – for example by double-clicking on it from Windows Explorer.
The script opens its own window. When the script completes you'll see a message reporting “successful installation” and you can hit any key to close the window. There are several steps , some of which require your interaction, and these are described below.
The first step for the installation script is to install the Platform program. This step opens its own window – follow the on-screen instructions. You'll need to agree to the licence terms.
The Platform requires a Microsoft component called the dot net framework. You may already have this installed on your computer but if not, or if the Platform needs a more up to date version, then the installer will attempt to download it from the internet. If your computer isn't connected to the internet you should be able to download it elsewhere and install it manually. (Specifically, you'll need the “dot net framework version 4 client profile”. Enter this phrase into a search engine, and you'll find it – you'll be downloading it from Microsoft's website.)
This installation automatically creates a desktop icon and adds an entry to the 'All Programs' menu available from the windows start button. The Platform's icon is shown in figure 1.
Next the script runs the BioEra installation program, which you'll see appear as a separate window, and requires you to agree licence terms, select components to install, and select the destination folder. For these choices I recommend you accept the defaults.
The actual location of the BioEra installation depends on whether your computer system is 32 bit or 64 bit. In the former case, the location is:
C:\Program Files\BioEraPro\
For 64 bit systems the location is:
C:\Program Files (x86)\BioEraPro\
For convenience, hereafter I'll refer to this location as the “BioEra Root”.
If you select a non-default location the rest of the script may not work properly, although it is possible to recover and carry out other steps manually.
The script is likely to also run a BioEra update program, which is similar to the first BioEra installation – requiring a few choices. Again I recommend accepting the defaults offered.
The Mind-Body Training Tools files relating to BioEra are copied to a single folder within the BioEra location, called 'YBF'. Its location will be:
[BioEra Root]\design\YBF
Files copied to this folder include the designs (files associated with BioEra), documentation and training videos.
As mentioned, the applications require a valid signature file before they will start. There is one signature file for each module. If your software was provided on the BioEra stick, they will be already present and you don't need to take further action. Otherwise, the signature files will be sent separately, and you will need to copy them to the right location.
If you're installing the trial version of Mind-Body Training Tools, there are no signature files to install.
You have two choices as to where to copy the signatures to. The first option is the BioEra dongle – this is more convenient if you want to install the software on more than one computer. If you don't have a dongle (i.e. you bought a single-computer BioEra licence) then you only have one choice – the second.
The second choice is to copy the signature files to the 'config' folder of the BioEra installation, i.e.
[BioEra Root]\config\
The correct location on the dongle for the signature files is a folder called 'bioeralic' – but this folder is hidden, meaning you can't see it from Windows Explorer (File Explorer). The following describes how to copy them.
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STEP 1: |
Copy the signature files from where you downloaded them to, onto the BioEra drive (top level). |
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STEP 2: |
Copy the files to bioeralic using a windows command prompt as follows: |
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STEP 2A: |
Start up a windows command prompt. To do this, click the Windows Start button, then type “cmd” (into the search box) and hit return. If you have an older version of windows, you may have to click 'Run' first. You'll see a window appear, with a black background and a prompt saying something like “c:\windows\system32\>”. |
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STEP 2B: |
Go to the BioEra drive. Note the letter of your BioEra drive (as it appears in e.g. Windows Explorer). Say it has letter “E”. Type “E:” and hit return. The prompt should change to “E:>”. |
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STEP 2C: |
Make sure your signatures are present. Type “dir *.bs”. Hit return. You should see a listing of your signature files, having names like “ybfeeg.bs”. If you don't, you didn't manage step 1 properly – try it again. |
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STEP 2D: |
Move the signature files. Type “move *.bs bioeralic” and hit return. You should see a message saying this step was successful. Now you can start the applications – as long as your dongle is inserted. |
If you wish to uninstall the software, you need to uninstall both the Platform program and BioEra. The platform can be uninstalled from the Windows control panel. BioEra has its own uninstall method – click the Start button, then Programs or All Programs, then find the BioEra Pro folder in the menu, then select “Uninstall”. Uninstalling either the Platform or BioEra will not affect your user data files (see section 4.2.2) unless you created your base folder in the BioEra root area, which is not advisable.
To reinstall the software, simply re-run the installation script (mbtt_installation). Note, the script will not reinstall BioEra unless you have first uninstalled it.
If you install a BioEra update, then you'll also need to rerun the installation script.
Re-running the installation script will delete the YBF folder and then recreate it – so if you added any files to it for any reason, you may wish to back up your data.
You may wish to carry out the steps of the installation manually, for example to recover from failures in the script. In the manual installation, you carry out the same steps as the installation script performs. In the following instructions, the files and folders I refer to are to be found amongst the installation files – either on your BioEra drive or in the folder you unzipped to.
First install the Platform program. The installation files for the Platform are located in a folder called 'Platform'. Simply run the 'setup' application within this folder and follow the instructions that come up. For example Windows will ask your permission to make the change. You must agree the licence terms.
This installation automatically creates a desktop icon and adds an entry to the 'All Programs' menu available from the windows start button. The Platform's icon is shown in figure 1.
Second, run the installation application named ‘bioera-pro-*-full-win’ where * is a version number such as 3.004.
Again you must agree to the licence terms in order to install.
You will be offered a choice of components to install. I recommend you accept the default selection.
You can choose where to install BioEra. I recommend you accept the default (which is detailed in section 2.1.1 above) and all other default selections offered to you by the installation application.
Third, install an upgrade version of BioEra, if one is available.
Run the installation application labelled ‘bioera-pro-*-upgrade-win’ where * is some version number such as 3.058. As in step 2 above, accept the default choices offered to you by the installer.
Fourth, copy the BioEra designs and associated documentation.
The files you need are all in a folder named ‘YBF’. You will need to copy these files to the location where you installed BioEra. (Section 3.1.2 tells you the default location.) Copy the whole YBF folder to:
[BioEra Root]\design\
The designs will not run properly from any other location.
As mentioned in the introduction, a trial version of Mind-Body Training Tools is available. It works with a trial version of BioEra, but if you already have the full version of BioEra it will work with that.
The trial version limits your sessions to one minute (with the BioEra trial version) or 90 seconds with the full version of BioEra.
The installation is almost exactly the same, but for the following minor differences:
The installation script is named “mbtt_trial_installation.bat”.
The script by default will install the trial version of BioEra, but if you already have the full version of BioEra installed, it will ignore this step.
The set-up files for the Platform program are found in a folder called “platform_trial”.
Some of the BioEra design file names in the YBF folder are slightly different.
If you're installing the trial version of BioEra, there are no updates to install.
There are never any signature files to install. All the applications will run, in trial version.
If you decide to buy the full version after exploring with the trial version, you'll need to uninstall the trial version. That means uninstalling the Platform program trial version, and BioEra. See section 3.3 above. Strictly speaking you don't need to uninstall BioEra but you should make sure that the YBF folder is deleted from the BioEra location.
The starting point for running the biofeedback applications is the Platform program. The Platform manages the applications and the data they generate. Sections 4.1 to 4.5 below introduce you to working with the Platform.
BioEra is an independent program in itself. You can use it to run other (third-party) designs, or you can even use it to develop your own designs (though this is not for the technically faint-hearted). Section 4.6 of this guide gives a basic introduction to BioEra.
TO_DO
The Platform installation automatically adds an icon to your desktop (see figure 1). Double-click this icon to start it. If you don't want the icon on your desktop you can delete it, and instead launch the Platform by clicking your Windows start button. The exact sequence of steps depends on which version of Windows you have. You may need to click on 'Programs'. Scroll to the folder 'Mind-Body Training Tools' and inside here is an icon for 'Mind-Body Training Tools'.
I hope that once started, the Platform should be self-explanatory. Here is a brief summary.
You'll see a set of tab buttons at the left side of the window, one for set-up and data management options, and then one for each biofeedback modality such as EMG (muscle tension).
Within each modality tab you will find buttons to
- start the biofeedback applications
- generate and open summary reports of your sessions
- open the User Guides (pdf documents)
- link to online training material
You'll also see a tab button for “Set-up” (in fact the Platform opens on this tab by default).