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3C Platform

Open-source, browser-based platform for administering cognitive and behavioural assessments — in-person, remotely, or offline. No proprietary software. No specialist programming required.

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  • 21 task components

    Cognitive, memory, language, and questionnaire tasks — all pre-built and configurable without writing code.

    Browse all tasks

  • Multilingual

    English, French, Japanese, and Korean via an on-screen language picker. Switch mid-session without reloading.

    Language support

  • Three deployment modes

    Remote server, local laptop (no internet), or offline LAN — same study files work in every setting.

    Administration modes

  • Rich response types

    Keyboard, touchscreen, speech recognition, drawing (GIF-recorded), and visual analog scales.

    Response types

  • Automated scoring

    Each task scores its own responses at completion — no post-collection extraction scripts needed.

    The Central Executive

  • NeuroClinic portal

    Review scores, replay drawing animations, and download data through the optional back-end web interface.

    Backend (NeuroClinic)

What is the 3C Platform?

The 3C Platform is open-source software for delivering, scoring, and reviewing behavioural and cognitive assessments in any modern web browser. Built by Jason Steffener and students in his Neural Cognitive Mapping lab at the University of Ottawa, it combines validated cognitive tasks and questionnaires in a unified environment that works in-person, remotely, or completely offline — with no proprietary software and no specialist programming.

The platform is built around two guiding principles:

  • Democratise access — make validated cognitive and behavioural assessments freely available to researchers, clinicians, and educators regardless of institutional resources or technical expertise.
  • Leverage computing — use browser technology to deliver richer assessments than paper-and-pencil allows, including timed responses, spoken stimuli, drawing tasks, speech recognition, and automated scoring.

How a session works

flowchart LR A([Participant browser]) -->|HTTP| B[JATOS server] B -->|loads| C[Central Executive] C -->|sequences| D[Task 1 … Task N] D -->|result JSON| B B -->|MySQL| E[NeuroClinic] E -->|browser| F([Clinician / researcher]) style B fill:#283593,color:#fff,stroke:none style C fill:#3949ab,color:#fff,stroke:none style E fill:#1565c0,color:#fff,stroke:none

The participant opens a URL containing two parameters: UsageType and Battery. JATOS loads the Central Executive, which reads those parameters, builds the ordered task list, and hands off to each task in turn. Every task scores its own responses and submits a result JSON to JATOS. When the battery is complete the participant is redirected to a thank-you page or an external URL.

Administration modes

Mode Internet required JATOS location Typical use
Remote server Yes Cloud or institutional server Large-scale remote studies
Local laptop No Researcher's laptop In-clinic, no network
Offline LAN No (local only) Raspberry Pi or mini PC Multi-device room studies

Repositories

Component Repository
Front-end tasks & questionnaires NCMlab/NCMLabOnlineTools
Back-end review portal (NeuroClinic) NCMlab/NeuroClinicPublic

Citation

If you use the 3C Platform in your research, please cite the associated publication. Details are in the repository README at github.com/NCMlab/NCMLabOnlineTools.