Deprecated Tools

VAST

Deprecated
Volume Annotation and Segmentation Tool

Desktop application for manual segmentation annotation. Required Ubuntu/Linux environment with network-mounted storage.

Replaced by: WebKnossos

Documentation

Eyewire

Deprecated
Citizen Science Platform

Browser-based citizen science game for neuron reconstruction. Gamified approach to crowdsourced annotation.

Replaced by: Professional annotation tools

Documentation

Legacy Workflows

Desktop-Based Annotation

Deprecated
VAST + Omni Workflow

Original annotation workflow using desktop applications on Ubuntu workstations with network-mounted data storage.

Key Differences

  • Local data access vs. cloud-hosted volumes
  • Single-user vs. collaborative editing
  • File-based vs. database-backed annotations

Manual ID Tracking

Deprecated
Spreadsheet-Based

Manual tracking of segment IDs in spreadsheets without automated validation against changing segmentation.

Limitations

  • No detection of split/merge changes
  • IDs could become stale without notice
  • No supervoxel-based tracking

Tool Evolution Timeline

Era 1: Citizen Science
Eyewire Era
Browser-based gamified neuron reconstruction for public participation. Pioneered crowdsourced connectomics.
Eyewire Browser-based
Era 2: Professional Desktop
VAST + Omni Era
Professional desktop tools for annotation (VAST) and 3D proofreading (Omni). Required Ubuntu workstations with local data access.
VAST Omni Ubuntu/Linux
Era 3: Web-Based Collaboration (Current)
WebKnossos + Neuroglancer Era
Web-based tools with collaborative features, AI assistance, and cloud integration. CAVE provides versioned annotation backend.
WebKnossos Neuroglancer CAVE FlyWire

Historical Glossary

Terms from deprecated tools that may appear in legacy documentation. Some terms remain in use.

Omni Terminology
Dust Small voxel fragments erroneously included inside large dendrites or axons. Typically noise from segmentation.
Merger AI segmentation error where two non-connecting structures are incorrectly combined into one segment.
Split AI segmentation error where one continuous structure is incorrectly divided into multiple segments.
Segment A collection of supervoxels grouped together, representing a candidate neuron or fragment.
Supervoxel The smallest rearrangeable unit of segmentation. Groups of voxels that are always kept together.
Spine Small membranous protrusion from a dendrite, typically a postsynaptic structure.
VAST Terminology
Volume A 3D EM image stack loaded for annotation.
Brush Tool for painting segmentation labels onto voxels.
Label A semantic category assigned to segmented regions (e.g., "synapse", "mitochondria").

Legacy Documentation

Full Legacy Index

The original monolithic documentation page has been preserved in its entirety.

Deprecated SOPs

Standard Operating Procedures that have been superseded by current versions.

Source Document Archives

Original Google Docs exports preserved for reference.