LogInGet started with your mixed reality experience development for Quest 3 with the new OpenXR: Meta package, now accessible in Unity 2022.3 LTS+.
Meta's latest Quest 3 VR/AR headset has recently been unveiled, and with it comes a brand new toolset for developing mixed reality experiences powered by Unity. The company has officially announced that their cross-platform mixed reality development tools, initially introduced for Meta Quest 3 earlier this year, have transitioned from an experimental preview to full support status in Unity 2022 LTS.
For those unaware, the toolset mainly consists of two robust plug-ins – AR Foundation and OpenXR. The former serves as a versatile framework for developing AR/MR applications, streamlining the process by providing a unified API that seamlessly operates across multiple platforms, eliminating the need for maintaining separate implementations.
Support for Meta Quest 3 in AR Foundation is built upon the foundation of OpenXR, a plug-in that implements the OpenXR standard within the Unity engine, establishing a common interface between XR hardware and software.
Image Credit: Unity
As per Unity's latest announcement, they have unveiled version 1.0.0 of the new OpenXR: Meta package, designed for use in Unity 2022.3 LTS and later versions. This package encompasses Meta-specific OpenXR extensions and Meta's AR Foundation provider plug-in tailored for the Meta Quest. Furthermore, when incorporated into a project, the OpenXR: Meta package will automatically incorporate AR Foundation and OpenXR plugins as essential dependencies.
Image Credit: Unity
In addition, Unity has clarified that AR Foundation is specifically designed to seamlessly integrate with XR Hands, a new XR subsystem that adds APIs for enabling hand tracking within Unity, and the XR Interaction Toolkit, which is a component-based interaction system for creating VR and AR experiences that offers a common framework for interactions and simplifying cross-platform development.
Finally, the company has introduced a new Mixed Reality Template that includes features like plane detection, passthrough, basic interactables, spatial UI, and hand and controller presence, as well as
"You can start building apps for Meta Quest 3 with AR Foundation and OpenXR today by downloading Unity 2022 LTS (version 2022.3.11.f1) or later. When starting a new project, launch the Unity Hub and select the Mixed Reality Template," commented Unity on how to get started. "You can also add packages to your project manually. If you have upgraded to Unity 2022.3.11f1 or later, search for OpenXR: Meta in the Unity Package Manager (UPM) to add it to a project."
You can learn more and get started with Unity's new XR tools for Meta Quest 3 by clicking this link. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.