New estim tracks for CH videos

[doremi]

CH Freedom viewtopic.php?f=25&t=22889
Not sure what that garbled mess is about. Maybe it's good?

Maybe a spider elected home in your hardware box.

[diglet]

I noticed a big issue with the calibration process. With the default parameters, the power level on the head is much larger than expected at around 25% stroke position (near the bottom). This cannot be corrected by fiddling with the calibration parameters.

I will have to spend some time to fix this, it does not make much sense to test the software until this is fixed.

[diglet]

I made some changes to the software.

I added amplitude modulation, changes take effect immediately. I had a discussion with mantrid and the conclusion is that this almost replicates what is possible with multiple carrier frequency, so I won't be implementing multiple carrier frequency.


More calibration parameters were added (see image below), this fixes the issue mentioned before. There are a lot of parameters which might be confusing for users, but I really need to gather feedback and test multiple electrode setups to figure out what the best approach is for dimensionality reduction. The values indicate the volume at the specified position in the phase diagram, I landed on these values after a few sessions.


Edit: this image was changed since this was first posted. As a result, edger477 next comment might not make a lot of sense.

Top position is the neutral, also fileflax top position. I noticed when stimming at low volume, bottom position feels like the volume is very low, so I tend to turn up the corresponding calibration parameter. But when the stim box is at higher volume, bottom position feels painful (stingy sensation in the glans, must be dorsal nerve) so I have to turn it down. This is not a bug in the software, It looks higher box volume doesn't increase the sensation linearly across all electrodes due to differences in nerves (or box design because not all channels are electronically identical).


The pane on the left shows the current position within the phase diagram. You can move the position with the mouse cursor, makes it easier to explore sensations.

calibration_gui.py has been renamed to restim.py. As usual, play script files with MultiFunPlayer localhost:12346. You don't have to close the calibration interface to play scripts, but set the pattern generator to 'None' to avoid interference. Calibration parameters can be updated while MFP is playing. realtime_audio_generator.py needs to run to actually generate sound output.

https://github.com/diglet48/restim

[edger477]

As usual the top position, neutral, is at the right of the diagram.

Can you elaborate this? Does this mean when red dot (left in picture) is right, then the funscript is at the top position (neutral = 0)? And the pictured position (on left) is when funscript would be at 100%? (I am talking about single-dimensional funscript)

Also maybe stupid question but I will still ask it, why is the top position not at the top of the diagram and bottom position at the bottom?

[diglet]

The diagram is oriented in this way:
EDIT: this is no longer the case, neutral is at the top.



I will add additional graphics to the software to make this clearer. When the red dot is close to electrode a (the right side), the current flows mostly through L and R and the minimum possible voltage is put on the center channel (bc). This corresponds to fileflax "top" position. When the red dot is on the far left side of the image, it's the opposite.

This diagram might also be useful:



Why the top is not at the top? That's a good question. I was wondering the same thing myself... The diagram is oriented this way because that's the way it's done in motor control, but perhaps that's a poor choice for this audience... I will get back on this.

[edger477]

Ok that makes it clear, and now I see how you could move sensation to b or c, if both signals are fully in phase and equal volume, then a will have 2x of current from b=c (strongest one) and at fully out of phase a will be at 0, but if you set c volume to ~50% when fully out of phase, then half of the current from b will go to a, and other half will go to c (since other channel only negates half of the signal) - so you could implement another axis like that.

[zebbg69]

Hi Milovanians,

...I've developed my own tool to generate triphase estim audio files from funscripts. The starting point is the following setup: common at head, left+ at base and right+ balls (or lower than left+).

I tried your Contract file! It was definitely smoother than the standard setup, with Common on head. Kudos on this improvement.

For me, though, I'm just not a head-Common kind of guy, and I still had a better time moving (L+R) to its own channel and attaching that to the head so it had its own volume dial, either by inverting a channel or just computing (L+R) directly. Even though your Contract e-stim file solved the problem of too much intensity, the dynamic range was kind of flattened, so I couldn't dial it in to really "pop" for me in contrast to the other electrodes.

I encourage head-Common stimmers to give this a try!

[FileFlax]

I tried your Contract file! It was definitely smoother than the standard setup, with Common on head. Kudos on this improvement.

For me, though, I'm just not a head-Common kind of guy, and I still had a better time moving (L+R) to its own channel and attaching that to the head so it had its own volume dial, either by inverting a channel or just computing (L+R) directly. Even though your Contract e-stim file solved the problem of too much intensity, the dynamic range was kind of flattened, so I couldn't dial it in to really "pop" for me in contrast to the other electrodes.

I encourage head-Common stimmers to give this a try!

Thanks for the feedback zebbg69! And thanks to everyone commenting in this thread! Great to see new ideas on generating stim files!

I've spent some time modifying my tool. I can now adjust the amplitude on left and right channel separately. This gives some more flexibility in generating the stim files. I also noticed that lowering the amplitude toward the top/head flattens the dynamic range. Quick short strokes at the head seems to get lost, so I changed the tool to take the speed, length and location into calculation when modifying the left channel amplitude (this calculation is done for every action).

The files I've uploaded are now generated with a default 30% tremolo effect on left channel and 45% on right channel (instead of doing 35% both channels). But the left channel amplitude is not 30% at the head if there is a quick short action at the top. For example a funscript 130ms action between 90 and 100 would use 19% tremolo effect on left channel in stead of 30%, and a 200ms action between 70-100 would use 24% tremolo effect to combat the flatness.

These new files also shortens the stroke lengths by 20%. This means that the stim file will not go all the way to 180 degrees out of sync (max bottom position can now be 180 degrees * 0.8 = 144 degrees, or in stim file the bottom position of 100 is now 80 instead). This will make strokes at the bottom feel better since current will still partially go to the common instead of most going from L+ to R+.

I don't have any math to back up these settings, just lot of "hard" testing

Here is a link to my files (the v20 files are the new ones):
https://mega.nz/folder/4s0jCbRT#3KEjOFLJO0L-FnN2GwBP2w

I also added an estim file for the Blake Blossom tease video (viewtopic.php?t=25314) in the "Other" directory if anyone wants to test how my stim files work with non CH videos.

[Kelvinator]

Wow Totally fascinating topic and discussions. I'm a layman when it comes to electrical theory, but the discussions and accompanying diagrams have shed light on an often misunderstood estim phenomenon. As they say, the proof of the orgasm pudding is in the eating . Following some of the comments in this post, I tried FileFlax's v20 versions of the estim files that accompany AndreXHero's Contract video, Pseudonym's Binary State, Crescendo, and 4 Play Challenge. Using the suggested setup (Common - Head, Left - Balls, Right - Prostate), I felt equally strong estim signals / sensations on my cock head, shaft, balls, and perineum. This is usually not the case with most tri-phase estim files, where almost all the sensation is centered at the common electrode. I echo Hopper's sentiments, and think you guys are really on to something. Many thanks to FileFlax, diglet, Electro, zebbg, elektrowicher, edger, and others who posted and collaborated on this effort. And, of course, I'd be happy to be part of the test team.

[Kelvinator]

I use this qualitatively when stimming, to wire up in what I call "soft tri-phase." Leave the four leads independent, but make their current paths overlap. For instance, A+ cock head, A- perineum near anus, B+ balls, B- anal. See how B+ is between A+ and A-, so the current flowing between balls and perineum is driven by both channels. But the net voltage from A+ to B+ is not that hard sum L+R, because the non-zero resistance between A- and B- takes up some "slack." It has a softer feeling than tri-phase, sort of like listening to vinyl vs. a CD.

I hope that helps and that I'm understanding what you're doing enough that I'm not in left field while you're doing the heavy lifting. Thanks for this work!

I tried a similar overlapping electrode setup last week on my DIY MidiStim box playing Number1 Fan's Klinik Industries triphase file and Pseudonym's Binary State, using FileFlax's estim file:
Left Channel (A): Head (CR loop), Shaft & behind balls (top isolated CR loop).
Right Channel (B): Base of shaft before balls (top isolated CR loop), Prostate (PES prostate stimulator probe).
I agree the zebbg69, that the "soft tri-phase" feeling is quite smooth and pleasant, with about equal sensations at and between the electrodes, with the stronger sensations at the smaller surface area electrodes (especially head).
I use a thin nitrile glove while stimming to isolate myself from the current, and I found that changing the position of one of the overlapping electrodes (base of shaft) varied the feel (intensity, location) of the stim signals. I would like to know what others have experienced with "soft tri-phase" electrode placement.

[zebbg69]

I tried a similar overlapping electrode setup ... the "soft tri-phase" feeling is quite smooth and pleasant...

Great! Thanks for following up.

Sorry I have not gotten around to the diagram you requested in the Klinik thread but you are well on your way to figuring it out.

Also I regret not having gotten back to diglet's reply on the phase theory. Still need to read it over thoughtfully. Soon I hope!

[Kelvinator]

Any updates on this fascinating topic? I volunteer to be a "master" beta tester

[diglet]

I finally made a breakthrough on the calibration problem. When I was investigating hardware calibration I stumbled upon a set of transformations that do the right thing, with these I can reduce the number of calibration variables down to two.



This solves three problems at once: hardware calibration (hardware not being perfectly three-way-symmetric), volume calibration (some positions feel stronger than others, due to nerve sensitivity or lower skin resistance) and position calibration (when moving, some positions feel as if they move slower).

On my hardware, a value around -5 works best for neutral power, around -1 for right power. The optimal values depend on your specific hardware and "hard"ware. I recommend not paying too much attention to the graphic, just adjust the parameters until it feels good.

I will be making small tweaks to the algorithm and UI over the coming weeks. Also started working on documentation, but nothing published yet.

https://github.com/diglet48/restim

Why not just open Audacity and compute (L+R)/2 into one track, put that on the head, and turn the volume dial on your box for direct control? Put (L-R)/2 on the other track and connect it wherever you want, also with its own volume knob. Then you don't need to generate a new e-stim file for every recalibration (moving/changing electrodes).

You can even tri-phase with (L+R,L-R)/2. Again, put (L+R) on the head for its own volume control, and put Common somewhere less sensitive (the butt! is great). (L-R) goes anywhere that makes a nice push/pull with the head. Super simple, no more head overload!

Small update on my answer on this topic. I realized recently that there are two separate problems here, first one being that the nerves at the head are more sensitive, the second being that the hardware drives the neutral electrode at much higher power than the other electrodes due to asymmetric box construction. I worked out (proof by matrix math on paper) that the hardware problem cannot be solved by turning the right-left balance pots because this results in a transformation that is orthogonal (technically, a 45° angle) to the embedded hardware bias. The hardware bias is results in approximately 2x higher output power in neutral vs left/right as shown in measurements here, so that's a big difference.

[diglet]

Another progress report... the audio generation is in a finished state.

I attempted to port to a web application, the audio generation works and hits all performance targets. But due to browser limitations, it's impossible to implement Multifunplayer integration . Support for video synchronization via MFP is one of the most important features for me, that leaves me with no choice but to shelve the browser implementation.

Instead, I will be working on a release package for the existing python GUI. I think the GUI works quite well from an usability standpoint, it just needs a few finishing touches.

[Kelvinator]

This was a night of firsts:
1. I watched a number of Cock Hero videos as I was stimming along with Diglet's restim installed on my pc. It was quite a stimulating interactive experience! The restim interface lets the user modify the feel and location of stim signals in real time. 'Nuf said. Thanks, Diglet!
2. I used Stash to manage, select, and play my cock hero videos. It was easy peasy. Thanks, The Carnal Scholar!
3. My new Super Sniffer DP (dual port) cap arrived today and it makes "aroma" hits intense (thesupersniffer.com)! The SS DP cap has two holes for a lanyard around your neck, and that's super convenient (didn't spill a drop).