Chris Nash has announced that the new Professional Edition of the reViSiT VST plug-in will be given away as part of a research project at the University of Cambridge. Version 1.0 is available now.

Built on the concepts of sampling and soundtracking, reViSiT is a composition tool that integrates rapid and precise sound and MIDI control into an existing music-making process, regardless of genre.

The program's creator, Chris Nash, has developed a special "research version" that will collect and relay anonymised data about how users interact with the software, in return for which he is granting participants a full licence for reViSiT Professional.

The move is targeted to attract users to take part in an online experiment, coordinated between the university's Centre for Music and Science (CMS) and Computer Laboratory, that aims to understand how musicians use their computers.

CMS director, Ian Cross, and interaction designer, Alan Blackwell, hope the move will attract hundreds of participants to the experiment; the results of which, they believe, will greatly help software designers improve the usability of music software.

The experiment officially launched on the 1st of December 2008. For more information, and to find out how to take part, see experiment.nashnet.co.uk.