MIST – Microscopy Image

Stitching Tool

A Exemplar of Complex GUI Interacti

Michael Majurski

NIST|ITL|SSD
Outline• Case Study at NIST

• Microscopy Image Stitching Tool (MIST)

• Conditional GUI Elements

• Inter‐dependent GUI Elements

• Handling Modes of Operation

• Missing GUI Elements

2023‐12‐06
MIST: a GUI Case Study at NIST• MIST stitches grids of images together

• Input needs to completely define

• How images were acquired/organized

• How files are named

• Where to save results

• Input GUI controls can be:

• Inter‐dependent

• And/or Conditional

• Multiple Modes of Operation

• Preview• Stitch• Rebuild

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Conditional GUI Elements• Row/Colum Grid Organization • Sequential Grid O

• Affects Direction, Numbering • Affects Direction (d• Filename Pattern • Filename Pattern

• img_{rrr}_{ccc}.tif • img_{ppp}.t

‐ ‐
Inter‐Dependent GUI Elements

• “Filename Pattern Type"

• Sequential vs Row/Column

• Affects how to validate/interpret

the “Filename Pattern”

• How to best capture, document,

and represent these more

complicated input relationships?

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Tooling Modes of Operation• Single tools can perform

multiple tasks

1. Preview2. Begin Stitching

• Main “Run” operation

3. Assemble From Metadata

• Hidden Mode of Operation• ↑ is bad pracƟce

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Current Plugin GUI Support

• Conditional Elements supported in the current Json Schem• Conditional elements enable Inter‐Dependent Elements

• But for more complicated interactions, might need to allow multiple UI elem

same UI ”key” depending on how the UI is configured.

• Multiple Entry‐Points

• Conditional GUI elements enable basic support of tooling modes of operatio

use existing parameters to modify behavior.

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Missing GUI Support

• Explicit Execution Modes

• Various entry points into container

• Question: Is this better left to parameter control? Or is explicit support usefu

• Answer depends on where the complexity is placed

• In the container argument handling?

• In the UI logic which might call the differing container entrypoints?

• Interactive Data Annotation

• How can we support containerized solutions for data annotation

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Interactive Data Annotation

• Question: Does the container interoperability care about a

the containerized tool itself uses?

• NIST WIPP system has limited web‐based data annotation

capabilities

• GUI is web‐based with full deep zoom view

• Annotation management/selection controls

• Data annotation tooling should exist as its own tool

• Containerized interoperable tool control GUI elements don’t need to worry a

present any GUI elements within those tools.

• For example: Fiji GUI has no care/control over how we organize the MIST GU

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Summary

• MIST Case Study at NIST

• Conditional GUI Elements

• Largely supported already

• Inter‐dependent GUI Elements

• Marginally do‐able with conditional elements

• But lacking modeling of dependencies (is that needed?)

• Tool Modes of Operation

• Clunky Support if handled via parameters• Is support of multiple container entry‐points useful?

• Interactive Data Annotation

• Bootstrapping AI models via label ‐> train ‐> refine loop

• Containerized GUI can be tailored to the required application, and not standa

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