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Pupil Player
Berlin, Germany
What it is
Pupil Player is free, open-source software for viewing, analyzing, and exporting Pupil Capture recordings. It plays video, steps through frames, trims timelines, and offers five playback speeds from 0.25x to 4x. Plugins can display gaze as circles, crosses, polylines, light points, heatmaps, or fixation overlays, while analysis tools support post-hoc fixation and blink detection, pupil detection, gaze calibration, mapping, validation, and head-pose tracking. The Raw Data Exporter saves pupil and gaze data as CSV, and the World Video Exporter creates video with visualizations. An iMotions exporter produces undistorted world video and gaze.tlv data. Exports go into an exports subfolder without removing or overwriting raw captures or existing exports. Supported formats include MP4, CSV, NumPy, PNG, and GAZE.TLV. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, supports runtime-loaded Python plugins, and is associated with Pupil Labs, founded in 2014 in Berlin.
For and against
For
- Free open-source software
- Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux
- Multiple gaze visualization styles
- Exports video, CSV, NumPy, PNG, and GAZE.TLV
- Exports preserve raw capture data
Against
- Plugins depend on recording source
- Eye-video overlay requires enabled eye video
- Head-pose tracking supports only tag36h11
- Hardware input is required
The verdict
Pupil Player offers playback, gaze-focused analysis, visual overlays, and several export paths without overwriting source recordings. Its capabilities depend on the recording and hardware setup, so users should check plugin requirements first.
Who it suits
Pupil Player suits eye-tracking researchers and others working with compatible Pupil Capture recordings. It is useful when gaze visualization, post-hoc analysis, or export is needed.
On the record
- Analysis
- Available analysis plugins include post-hoc fixation and blink detection, pupil detection, gaze calibration, and head-pose tracking.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Custom plugins
- Users can extend Pupil Core software with runtime-loaded Python plugin files, including third-party plugins from the pupil-community repository.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Exports
- The raw data exporter saves pupil and gaze data as CSV files, while video exporters can save video with timestamp files.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Export safety
- Exports are saved in an exports subdirectory, and the documentation says Player does not remove or overwrite capture raw data or overwrite exports.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Eye video requirement
- The eye-video overlay requires eye video to have been enabled during Pupil Capture recording.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Head-pose limit
- The head-pose tracker currently supports only the default tag36h11 marker family.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- iMotions integration
- The iMotions Exporter creates data for use with iMotions, including undistorted world video and gaze data in a gaze.tlv file.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Integration
- An iMotions exporter creates data for use with iMotions, including undistorted gaze data in a gaze.tlv file.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- Pupil Labs describes the Core documentation as serving users getting started with eye-tracking glasses and developers building eye-tracking applications and integrations.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Maker
- Pupil Labs says it was founded in 2014 and identifies its main office as Berlin, Germany.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Offline use
- Pupil Player exports into an exports subfolder and does not remove or overwrite raw capture data.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Playback
- It can play recordings, scrub the timeline, step frame by frame, and change playback speed among 0.25x, 0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 4x.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Plugins
- Pupil Player uses the Pupil Capture plugin framework, and the documentation says Capture plugins can often work in Player with little or no modification.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Post-hoc analysis
- Plugins support post-hoc pupil detection and gaze calibration, mapping, and validation.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Pupil Player is a media and data visualizer for viewing Pupil Capture recordings and exporting data.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Recording compatibility
- The documented plugin availability varies by recording product: Pupil Core, Pupil Invisible, and Pupil Mobile do not all support the same plugins.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Support
- The Core documentation directs users with issues or questions to the Pupil Labs Discord chat.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Visualization
- Visualization plugins can overlay gaze positions as circles, crosses, polylines, or light points.docs.pupil-labs.com · read 9 Oct 2026
