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Pupil Core Eye Tracker

Pupil Core is a wearable, head-mounted eye tracking system developed by Pupil Labs. It is designed for research and advanced prototyping, enabling accurate measurement of eye movements in both laboratory and real-world environments.

The system is intended for research and development use.

Pupil Core

Image © Pupil Labs. Used for documentation and identification purposes.

Overview

Pupil Core is a modular eye tracking platform that combines eye cameras for pupil observation with a forward-facing scene camera that captures the user’s visual field. Gaze is estimated by mapping pupil position from the eye cameras into the scene camera reference frame.

The system supports mobile use and natural interaction, allowing participants to move freely while gaze data is recorded, streamed, or synchronized with other sensing modalities.

Measurement Capabilities

Pupil Core supports measurement of:

  • Gaze position in the scene camera coordinate system
  • Fixations and saccades
  • Blink events
  • Pupil size and pupil dynamics

Eye tracking is based on video-based pupil detection using infrared illumination and dark-pupil detection.

Hardware Components

  • Eye cameras
  • Infrared-sensitive cameras with IR illumination

  • Mounted close to the eye to capture pupil images

  • Scene camera

  • Forward-facing RGB camera

  • Captures the user’s field of view

  • Headset

  • Lightweight, modular frame

  • Adjustable mounts for eye and scene cameras

  • Processing and connectivity

  • USB connection to a host computer
  • Power and data provided via USB

Technical Specifications (typical)

  • Eye camera frame rate: up to 200 Hz (depending on model)
  • Scene camera resolution: up to 1920 × 1080
  • Scene camera frame rate: up to 120 Hz (depending on configuration)
  • Gaze accuracy: approximately 0.6° visual angle under controlled conditions
  • System latency: approximately 45 ms (eye pipeline)

Exact specifications depend on the selected camera modules.

Software

Pupil Core uses open-source software maintained by Pupil Labs:

  • Pupil Capture
  • Real-time pupil detection and gaze estimation

  • Live visualization and recording

  • Pupil Player

  • Playback and visualization of recorded data
  • Inspection of gaze, pupil, and video streams

The software is extensible via plugins and supports custom processing pipelines.

Supported platforms: - Windows
- macOS
- Linux

Data and Synchronization

  • Recording of raw video, gaze data, and timestamps
  • Real-time data streaming
  • Synchronization with external systems via:
  • Lab Streaming Layer (LSL)
  • Network-based messaging

This enables multimodal experiments combining eye tracking with EEG, fNIRS, motion capture, or physiological sensors.

Use Cases

  • Human–computer interaction research
  • Cognitive and behavioral studies
  • Usability and user experience evaluation
  • Multimodal neuroscience experiments
  • Mobile and real-world gaze studies

More Information

Technical specifications and hardware options:
https://pupil-labs.com/products/core/tech-specs

Manufacturer: Pupil Labs GmbH, Berlin, Germany

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