Installation

Requirements

• Python 3.10 — PsychoPy does not yet support Python 3.11+

• Vernier Go Direct Respiration Belt (GDX-RB) — for hardware-dependent features

From PyPI

pip install respyra

For post-session visualization (adds pandas and matplotlib):

pip install "respyra[vis]"

Development install

git clone https://github.com/embodied-computation-group/respyra.git
cd respyra
py -3.10 -m venv .venv       # Windows
# python3.10 -m venv .venv   # macOS / Linux

Activate the virtual environment:

# Windows
.venv\Scripts\activate

# macOS / Linux
source .venv/bin/activate

Install in editable mode:

pip install -e ".[vis]"

Verify the installation

python -c "import respyra; print(respyra.__version__)"

Platform notes

Windows (BLE)

The Vernier belt’s BLE scanner (Bleak) requires the main thread with COM in MTA mode. PsychoPy’s graphics backend sets COM to STA on import. respyra handles this by connecting the belt before importing PsychoPy — no manual workaround is needed when using the provided scripts.

If you encounter BLE failures, try USB as a fallback (connect the belt with the included USB cable).

Linux

USB access requires udev rules. Create /etc/udev/rules.d/99-godirect.rules:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="08f7", MODE="0666"

Then reload:

sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger

macOS

Both BLE and USB work out of the box.