Hello,
key question:
Can resource manager be configured to download resources truly in the background across multiple routines? or is it locked to a single routine?
context:
I have a general question about how I am trying to implement dynamic resource loading for an online experiment. I am running an experiment that at the end (>30 minutes in) involves participants viewing ~1000 unique images. The images are versions of key stimuli that are degraded with different degrees of visual noise, and cannot be reduced in file size any more than they are already.
The experiment works online, however if I set up all of the stimuli to load before the experiment starts this takes >5 minutes and is not ideal.
I’ve done some reading and I understand the principle behind the resource manager and static components. How I would like to be able to use the resource manager component is to start it at the first routine containing instructions, and have it run in the background as the participant completes various other routines in the flow of the experiment. Is this possible? With default configuration I get the sense that as soon as the routine ends that contains the resource manager the download stops.
There are probably several brute force ways to accomplish what I am trying to do, such as have many small downloads across various routines, but I was hoping to avoid such a messy approach, at least for now.
Thanks in advance for any input!
-Gus