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Recording Example

Start a recording on the device, stop it after a fixed duration, then download the VRS and its thumbnails.

Script: device_record.py (export the samples to get it)

Prerequisites​

One-Time Setup: Device Authentication Required

All device operations fail until you have run aria_gen2 auth pair once for this device-PC pair. See Device Authentication.

Run it​

# Record for the default 10 seconds
python ~/Downloads/projectaria_client_sdk_samples_gen2/device_record.py

# Record for 30 seconds and download into a chosen directory
python ~/Downloads/projectaria_client_sdk_samples_gen2/device_record.py \
    --duration 30 --output ~/Downloads/
FlagDefaultDescription
--duration <sec>10How long to record before stopping
--output <path>current directoryWhere the recording and thumbnails are downloaded

Worth knowing​

Leaving profile_name unset uses the device's default profile, which aria_gen2 device status reports as default_recording_profile. The script sets profile9 explicitly. Beyond the profile, RecordingConfig also carries custom_profile (a profile as JSON, instead of a named one) and recording_type (RECORDING_TYPE_REAL, _TEST or _PROTOTYPE). For what each profile captures, see the Profiles Technical Specification.

recording_info() prints — it does not return. Despite what the shipped type stub says, device.recording_info(uuid) logs the recording's name, size and metadata and returns None. To get a RecordingInfo object in Python, filter list_recordings() instead:

recordings = device.list_recordings()
info = next(r for r in recordings if r.name == uuid)
print(info.name, info.size, info.metadata)

Downloading has a few more options than the script uses. download_all_recordings(output_path) grabs everything on the device in one call, and download_all_thumbnails(uuid, output_dir) fetches one recording's thumbnails. On a filename collision the behavior is whatever you set with device.set_file_conflict_action(...) — KEEP_BOTH, REPLACE or STOP.

On-device recording and streaming are mutually exclusive, with one exception: a WebRTC session can record on-device at the same time via start_streaming(record=True). See the WebRTC Streaming Example.

Viewing what you recorded​

aria_rerun_viewer --vrs ~/Downloads/<recording_name>.vrs

For processing the data, see the Project Aria Tools documentation.

Troubleshooting​

start_recording() fails or hangs. Usually a recording is already in progress, or the device is streaming. Check with device.get_recording_state() and device.is_streaming(), stop whatever is running, then retry.

Recording is not allowed. device.status().is_recording_allowed reports whether the device will accept a new recording at all — a full disk or thermal mitigation can block it.

Next steps​