Analysis of human visual experience data

Exposure to the optical environment — often referred to as visual experience — profoundly influences human physiology and behavior across multiple time scales. In controlled laboratory settings, stimuli can be held constant or manipulated parametrically. However, such exposures rarely replicate real-world conditions, which are inherently complex and dynamic, generating high-dimensional datasets that demand rigorous and flexible analysis strategies. This tutorial presents an analysis pipeline for visual experience datasets, with a focus on reproducible workflows for human chronobiology and myopia research. Light exposure and its retinal encoding affect human physiology and behavior across multiple time scales. Here we provide step-by-step instructions for importing, visualizing, and processing viewing distance and light exposure data using the open-source R package LightLogR. This includes time-series analyses for working distance, biologically relevant light metrics, and spectral characteristics. By leveraging a modular approach, the tutorial supports researchers in building flexible and robust pipelines that accommodate diverse experimental paradigms and measurement systems.