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SPECIFICTION
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Pupil Player

docs.pupil-labs.com

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Spec score 7.1 #21 of 27 in Eye Tracking Software

What it is

Pupil Player is free, open-source software for viewing, analyzing, and exporting Pupil Capture recordings. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux and uses hardware recordings as input. Playback includes frame stepping, timeline trimming, and five speeds from 0.25x through 4x. A plugin framework adds gaze displays, marker and surface tracking, and data export. Analysis plugins cover post-hoc fixation and blink detection, pupil detection, gaze calibration, mapping, validation, and head-pose tracking. Visualizations can show circles, crosses, polylines, light points, heatmaps, or fixation overlays. Raw Data Exporter writes pupil and gaze data as CSV, while World Video Exporter saves visualized video. An iMotions exporter creates undistorted world video and gaze.tlv data. Exports go into an exports subfolder without removing or overwriting raw captures. Available plugins depend on the recording source, and eye-video overlays require eye video enabled during capture. Runtime-loaded Python plugins can extend the software.

Spec sheet

Purpose
Pupil Player is a media and data visualizer for viewing Pupil Capture recordings and exporting data.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
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.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Support
The Core documentation directs users with issues or questions to the Pupil Labs Discord chat.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Headquarters
Berlin, GermanyRead 28 Sep 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Founded
2014Read 28 Sep 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Maker
Pupil Labs says it was founded in 2014 and identifies its main office as Berlin, Germany.Read 9 Oct 2026 · pupil-labs.com
Analysis
Available analysis plugins include post-hoc fixation and blink detection, pupil detection, gaze calibration, and head-pose tracking.Read 8 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Custom plugins
Users can extend Pupil Core software with runtime-loaded Python plugin files, including third-party plugins from the pupil-community repository.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
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.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Exports
The raw data exporter saves pupil and gaze data as CSV files, while video exporters can save video with timestamp files.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Eye video requirement
The eye-video overlay requires eye video to have been enabled during Pupil Capture recording.Read 8 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Head-pose limit
The head-pose tracker currently supports only the default tag36h11 marker family.Read 8 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
iMotions integration
The iMotions Exporter creates data for use with iMotions, including undistorted world video and gaze data in a gaze.tlv file.Read 8 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Integration
An iMotions exporter creates data for use with iMotions, including undistorted gaze data in a gaze.tlv file.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Offline use
Pupil Player exports into an exports subfolder and does not remove or overwrite raw capture data.Read 8 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
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.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
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.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Post-hoc analysis
Plugins support post-hoc pupil detection and gaze calibration, mapping, and validation.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Recording compatibility
The documented plugin availability varies by recording product: Pupil Core, Pupil Invisible, and Pupil Mobile do not all support the same plugins.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com
Visualization
Visualization plugins can overlay gaze positions as circles, crosses, polylines, or light points.Read 9 Oct 2026 · docs.pupil-labs.com

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Free and open-source
  • Playback supports stepping, trimming, and five speeds
  • Post-hoc gaze and pupil analysis plugins
  • Multiple gaze visualization styles
  • Exports CSV, video, and iMotions data

Limits

  • Plugins depend on recording source
  • Eye-video overlay requires enabled eye video
  • Head-pose tracking supports only tag36h11
  • Requires compatible hardware recordings

Who it suits

It suits eye-tracking researchers and other users working with compatible Pupil Capture recordings. The desktop platforms, analysis plugins, visualizations, and export formats support post-hoc recording work.

Verdict

Pupil Player provides a broad desktop toolkit for inspecting and exporting Pupil recordings. Check recording compatibility and plugin requirements before relying on a particular analysis or overlay.

Where Specifiction places it

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