What Empirisoft Corporation does

Empirisoft Corporation is a privately held, two-person software and hardware firm founded in 1998 by Dr. Blair Jarvis, a social psychologist, to build computerized experiment tools for psychology research. The company's core products are MediaLab (a Windows-based questionnaire and multimedia experiment builder) and DirectRT (reaction-time software using DirectX for millisecond-precision stimulus presentation and response timing), sold as perpetual licenses with optional biennial version upgrades. Its hardware line, DirectIN, comprises precision keyboards, button boxes, and rotary controllers that deliver sub-millisecond response data to computers and integrate natively with MediaLab and DirectRT as well as competitor platforms (E-Prime, Inquisit, SuperLab, MEL).

The business operates a direct-to-customer model with no resellers: prospective buyers download 21-day free trials from the website or email sales for quotes, software is delivered via download with machine-specific or IP-based authorization codes, and hardware (priced $595–$985 per unit) is assembled to order and shipped after payment. Pricing is tiered across basic single-lab, small-group, departmental, and campus-wide site licenses, with academic, government, and non-profit buyers receiving 30–60% discounts versus commercial pricing. Marketing relies on downloadable trials, a searchable support forum, conference presence (e.g., SPSP), and peer recommendations from prominent researchers including Robert Cialdini, Richard Petty, and Anthony Greenwald.

Empirisoft sells to academic psychology departments (primary), commercial research buyers (e.g., 3M, Abbott), healthcare and clinical research institutions (e.g., National Center for PTSD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering), and government agencies (CDC, Navy). The customer base spans hundreds of universities across 35+ countries on six continents. The company is bootstrapped with no external funding, no institutional investors, and no subsidiaries; headquarters are at 2110 8th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan with sales and hardware development run remotely by John Chapman from Salt Lake City.

Name

Empirisoft Corporation

Legal name

Empirisoft Corporation

Website

https://empirisoft.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Empirisoft Corporation is a privately held, two-person firm that develops MediaLab and DirectRT software plus DirectIN precision response hardware for psychology research experiments, selling perpetual licenses and hardware directly to universities, healthcare institutions, and corporate researchers in 35+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Psychology Research Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Simulation & Scenario-Based Learning Authoring (EDAFAHAD)

Keywords

• Psychology research software
• Reaction time software
• Research response hardware
• Experimental psychology tools
• Computerized experiment design

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: One-time perpetual software licenses with optional version upgrades every two years at discounted rates. No subscription or maintenance fees required. Supports basic single-lab licenses and unlimited site licenses for departments/campuses.
2. Hardware Sales: DirectIN precision keyboards ($595-$795), button boxes ($795-$985), and rotary controllers sold with one-year warranty. Custom hardware available at additional cost.
3. Site Licenses: Tiered site licensing (Small Group up to 25 machines, Departmental unlimited, Campus-Wide unlimited) with IP-based authorization enabling seamless network deployment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Empirisoft Corporation develops and sells MediaLab, a Windows-based software package for building computerized questionnaires and multimedia psychology experiments, and DirectRT, a DirectX-based reaction time software for cognitive and perception tasks with millisecond-precision stimulus presentation and response timing. The company also designs and manufactures DirectIN high-speed response hardware (modified keyboards, button boxes, and rotary controllers) that deliver sub-millisecond response data, and offers custom hardware engineering services. Products are sold via one-time perpetual licenses with tiered academic and commercial site licensing.

Product overview

Empirisoft Corporation offers a unified portfolio of psychology research software and hardware designed for computerized experimentation. The core product suite consists of MediaLab (questionnaire and multi-media experiment builder) and DirectRT (high-precision reaction time software), which can function independently or be combined—DirectRT sessions can be embedded within MediaLab experiments. Supporting the software are DirectIN hardware devices (precision keyboards, button-boxes, and rotary controllers) that achieve sub-millisecond response timing. The company provides academic and commercial licensing tiers, custom hardware development services, and sells directly to research institutions worldwide. Software versions are released approximately every two years with backward compatibility maintained.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MediaLab: Psychology experiment software for creating questionnaires and multimedia experiments on Microsoft Windows.
• DirectRT
• DirectIN

Products and services

• MediaLab Psychology research software for Microsoft Windows that enables researchers to create computerized questionnaires and multi-media experiments with a variety of question formats (multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, essay, rating scales) and to present stimuli (text, images, audio, video) without programming expertise; targets university faculty, graduate students, and research professionals.
• DirectRT

Quantifiable outcome

• Eliminates 10-17 milliseconds of random timing error through screen-synchronized response timing
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• John Chapman (Head Engineer)coreOthersJohn Chapman serves as head of hardware division, including custom hardware design and development. Contact: [email protected]

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Psychology Software Tools (E-Prime): E-Prime is the most widely used commercial psychology experiment authoring software and a direct competitor to MediaLab/DirectRT for stimulus presentation and reaction-time tasks; Empirisoft's DirectIN hardware is explicitly designed to work with E-Prime, making them both competitors and complementary hardware partners.
• Millisecond Software (Inquisit): Inquisit is a direct commercial competitor to DirectRT and MediaLab for cognitive and perception experiments; like Empirisoft, it supports millisecond-accurate response collection and integrates with DirectIN response hardware.
• Cedrus (SuperLab): SuperLab is a direct competitor for experiment authoring on Windows/macOS, and Cedrus sells its own response hardware (m-pod, c-pod) — directly overlapping with both Empirisoft's MediaLab/DirectRT software and the DirectIN hardware line.
• SR Research (EyeLink): SR Research makes EyeLink eye trackers, a complementary precision research instrument commonly bundled with E-Prime, Inquisit, and DirectRT for cognitive psychology labs; it is a peer in the broader psychology-research-instrumentation category alongside DirectIN.

Emerging players

• PsychoPy (Open Source): PsychoPy is the leading open-source Python-based experiment builder and an increasingly popular alternative to MediaLab in academic labs, particularly among researchers who want free, extensible, cross-platform tools; it is the principal open-source threat to Empirisoft's MediaLab.
• jsPsych: jsPsych is a leading open-source JavaScript library for running browser-based psychology experiments; it represents the next-generation, web-native approach that competes with Empirisoft's Windows/DirectX-based DirectRT for new research workflows.
• PsyToolkit: PsyToolkit is a free, web-based platform for running psychology experiments and surveys, overlapping with MediaLab's questionnaire/experiment use cases; it is a low-cost emerging alternative particularly attractive to budget-constrained academic labs.
• MATLAB Psychtoolbox: Psychtoolbox is a free MATLAB toolbox for vision and neuroscience research that provides precise stimulus presentation and response timing; it competes with DirectRT at the technical level for labs with programming capability, particularly in cognitive and perceptual psychology.

Broad incumbents

• Qualtrics: Qualtrics is a broad survey and research-experience platform widely used in academic and enterprise research; while not a reaction-time tool, it overlaps with MediaLab's questionnaire/survey use cases and is a much larger incumbent competing for the same research budgets.
• Tobii (eye tracking & research tools): Tobii is a large, publicly listed provider of eye-tracking hardware and research software used in psychology, neuroscience, and UX research; it is a broad incumbent in the same research-instrumentation category as Empirisoft's DirectIN hardware.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/empirisoft-corporation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Empirisoft Corporation