Consumer Physics Developers Site | Define a Data Collection

To import and export meta-data, open your target data collection and select the Samples tab.

You will see Import Data and Export Data buttons in the right hand corner.

Export Meta-Data

To export meta-data, click Export Data to download the data to a CSV file. Save the file to your computer.

Import Meta-Data

1. To upload a CSV file with meta-data of your samples (instead of doing it in the web page or during scanning), click Import Data.

Note: You will need a unique identifier per sample in both cloud and CSV file.

2. Click Choose File and select the CSV file to upload.

3. Click Next.

4. Mark the column/s of the unique sample identifier/s to be used as reference values from your file and click Next.

5. Link the attributes you want to import values from your spreadsheet,

(this is done automatically when there is a full match between column header and attribute name) and click Import.

Your meta-data will be automatically imported.

6. Click Done to complete the import and load your collection scans.

Merge Collections

Data collections were previously limited by size restrictions. This resulted in large collections being divided into smaller segments.

It is now possible to merge two collections into one single collection using the +Merge Collections tool

1. Click +Merge Collections

2. Select two collections and enter a new collection name and description

3. Click Merge. The new collection will be added to the main collections page

Web-based SCiO Universe Application

SCiO Lab is the SCiO Universe web-based application for creation and management of your data collections. You can run SCiO Lab from any standard desktop web browser. SCiO Lab is located at: sciolab.consumerphysics.com

Within SCiO Lab, you can:

Create a New Data Collection
Add Sample Attributes
View Processed and Reflectance Spectra
Model your Scan Data
Change Your SCiO Lab User Profile
Download your data (with a SCiO Researcher license)

Deleting a Data Collection removes all of the custom attributes and values from the SCiO Universe database.

To Delete a Data Collection:

Select Delete Collection from the Data Collection page menu.
Enter the exact name of the Data Collection you wish to delete (this confirmation step ensures you don’t accidentally delete a collection you wanted to keep).
Select the Remove button. If the name you typed is an exact match to the Data Collection name, the Data Collection will be permanently deleted.

Always double check before confirming a deletion.
Make sure you double check the name of the Data Collection you wish to delete before confirming. Once a Data Collection has been deleted, it cannot be retrieved and must be recreated.

Data Collections are populated by Samples. Samples are created from the scans + meta-data added to every scan made with your SCiO Sensor. Both automatic and sample attributes are assigned to each sample scan.

Automatic attributes are provided by SCiO and cannot be changed or excluded from any samples. They include things like the date and your location.

Where does the automatic attribute information come from?

The date and location provided are based on your smartphone at the time of the scan. The temperature information is collected by your reading at the time of the scan.

Sample Attributes are the attributes that you create and provide for each sample within a Data Collection to help you distinguish and provide value to your sample field.

To create sample attributes:

Select the +Add Attributes button within the Data Collection.
Select a name for the Sample Attribute.
Select a TYPE for the Attribute from the drop down list.

Depending on the TYPE of Attribute you create, the remaining Attribute fields will automatically adjust.

For example, when you select NUMERIC as the TYPE of Attribute, you’ll need to also select the Numeric Type as well as the relevant UNIT of measurement as shown in the sample below.

Sample Attributes can be built from the following fields:

Attribute Type	Description	Sub Fields	Notes
String	Open Text	None	Make sure there is meaningful information here or you’ll have a hard time making use of this collection. Uses of this attribute might be brand name, manufacture date or other unique attributes that don’t fit well into a structured list.
List	Closed set of values	When List is selected, List Type is available. Within List Type, there are three types of lists: Countries Currencies Custom	Only when List is selected is the additional field of List Type available. To add a custom List, select custom from the List Type, and enter the values of your list in the Items field.
Number	Options: Area Concentration Energy Intensity Length Number of Particles Power Temp Time Period Unitless (arbitrary unit) Volume Weight		Each type of quantity contains the related subfields as a Unit when selected. For example, if you select Concentration, you'll need to then select %, ppm or Molar. If you select Energy, you’ll need to select W or mW.
Photo	Image of the sample
Date	Date related attribute		While the date a sample was taken is an automatic attribute, this attribute refers to an additional date you might want to associate such as expiration date or purchase date, etc.
Date and Time	Date and time related attribute		While the date and time a sample was taken are automatic attributes, this attribute refers to an additional date and time you might want to associate. For example, expiration date and time, or purchase date and time, etc.

Ready to build your new data collection?

Add a new Data Collection:

Decide on object or material you wish to scan and gather your samples.
Navigate and log in to SCiO Lab and select the +Add Collection button.
From the Add New Collection window, enter a NAME for your new collection. In the sample shown, we used Apples.
Give your new data collection a description that is as meaningful and complete as possible including relevant research data so you can easily distinguish it from other collections later on.
Use TAGS to associate your collection with keywords in a useful way. Remember that every scan helps us to build the SCiO Universe Database, so tagging effectively helps everyone.

Once you have decided on a new object or material you wish to scan, you’ll need to create a Data Collection to contain and organize it.

Data Collections are built of multiple records (scans) of potentially unlimited number of samples.

The number of samples required to have a successful model depends on the complexity of the problem you are trying to solve. For simple cases, sugar and water solutions at a single temperature for example, a few samples might be enough, for more complex models like the ones Consumer Physics makes for the SCiO App, hundreds of samples scanned in multiple temperatures and conditions are required.

It is best practice to iterate between the data collection and model creation phases until the desired performance is achieved