Hi players,

Apologies for the long time since our last update, we have been busy with other aspects of the project, but finally have new items to share with you all.
We are introducing a new major feature, called tag pins that will allow you to mark nodes of interest so you can more easily return to them later. By selecting a node and pressing the ‘T’ key you can place a persistent tag pin on a node of interest, for example a branching point. You can use the tag to return to that node more easily. In addition consensus will now automatically add tag pins at endpoints, indicating areas which you may need to form a connection or continue tracing from. To unlock tag pins, you will need to have at least finished the quest introducing you to consensus.
We have updated the Magic Tracer tool to create smoother traces and to perform a bit faster. In addition, we have changed the behavior so if you hold shift and left click, it will place a single point. You no longer need to switch to a different tool like Connect-the-Dots 3D if the Magic Tracer fails to create a curve. We have also exposed parameters in the top right settings menu that can affect the quality and performance of the tool, we will create a document that better explains these settings shortly.

Finally, if you experience issues with the latest release, you may need to clear the browser cache and press the ‘Update Available’ button at the bottom right of the screen.

Thank you for playing, we hope to provide more improvements soon!

(08/21/2021)
Hi players,

We just released a new update to the application. We re-added a few buttons that got removed in the ui overhaul. They are the invert colors button that is located above the brightness slider and buttons to more closely control the 3D image clipping. We also added more relevant objectives/quests to the right hand tab to give you a better idea about outstanding issues left in the current challenge. Let us know if you have any issue and thank you for playing!

Hello players, we have released a bug fix to some of the tracing tools to work better with the 3D image clipping tool. It should now ignore the signal that you specified to be cropped out using the slider, hopefully resulting in tools like virtual finger making more accurate paths.

(04/23/21) Hello players,

We have a new update to the client to allow us to better support image data from additional partner labs. You’ll notice a new ui slider element at the top of the screen that will allow adjustment of image intensity thresholds.

Image thresholding is a new feature that aims to improve visibility across a neuron for both you and the tools you use. Adjust the dual-handled slider to set the two thresholds. Everything that fall between those two thresholds will be brighter and better contrasted. VF and CTD3D will only consider data that fall between these thresholds. This should enable greater ease of tracing with some of the tricker, fainter datasets. By placing this power into the players’ hands, you have significantly greater control over how you play.
We’re going to post some tricker datasets for you to experiment on with this new tool. Enjoy!!!

Hi players, in our latest update we made changes to better support tracing new images we have received that contain multiple cells closely overlapping each other. Each challenge will still be tracing one cell, but you will only be allowed to extend from either the soma of the target cell or an existing trace you have created or from consensus. Most of the cells with this restriction will have the Human-CL prefix. This is a pretty big change from how tracing worked before so please let us know your thoughts. Also checkout the other changes included in this update here. Thanks for playing!

(09/04/20) Hi players, we have released some bug fixes related to some issues with the camera automatically following your traces. We have also included a option you can find in the ‘Trace’ secion of the settings menu where you can disable the camera movement if you find it disorienting. Full change log here. As always, thanks for your contributions and let us know if there are any issues.

(08/21/20) Hi players, we have some big updates in our most recent release. In preparation for a new type of challenge we are hoping to release soon, we have added some new features. The first is an image clipping tool when using Virtual Finger of Connect-the-Dots-3D that will allow you to adjust the size of the visible volume you are tracing. You will be able to clip slices of the image to reduce the amount of signal noise while tracing with those tools. We have also made it so the camera automatically follows in the direction that you are tracing and loads adjacent 3D image data. This will hopefully reduce the need to have to go back to the 2D map while you are following a signal. We also fixed an issue with Virtual Finger sometimes freezing, although we have a more substantial performance overhaul for that tool coming in the future. The full changelog is here. Thanks for playing and let us know if you encounter any problems!

Hi players, in this latest update we are releasing some experimental features. We are hoping to test out how effective they are. The first are lessons that will popup with tips on how to trace more accurately or correct some common mistakes we have seen in the past. The second is the ability to see other user traces and a new ‘Approve Trace’ tool that will allow you to create a copy of another user trace to more quickly form consensus. This tool will unlock on certain neurons after some amount of work has been done. Please feel free to share your feedback and thoughts on these updates in the chat or forums! Thanks for playing.

(04/27/20) Hi players, we have released an update to the game client with a major change to how the volume is loaded. We hope this will speed up your tracing as you don’t need to wait for large image chunks to reload from scratch. With this update:


Volume will expand around the currently selected node. This allows continuous tracing without having to switch to and from map mode.
Spacebar now centers the view around the selected node, if any.
Green arrows have been removed
The entire trace graph is now visible regardless of voxel volume location and resolution.


There is a known issue where transitioning from 3D to 2D is not seamless and can be a little disorienting. We’re working on fixing it. Please let us know in the forums or chat if you run into issues. Thanks you for playing!