Getting Started (Meta SDK)

This tutorial covers how to set up a VR/XR project using Unity 6+.

The first thing you need to do is set up a Unity project, over the last few years Unity and Meta have releases many updates, each release making it easier to do so.

This tutorial will go over setting up a new Project using Unity 6.3 using Meta SDK 83.0.

Requirements

• Unity Hub installed from Unity Downloads.

• Unity Account created at Unity Website.

Installing the Project

• Open Unity Hub and sign in.

• Install Unity version 6.2 or later.

• In the 'Unity Installs' section, select a Dev Tool (such as 'Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2022') and 'Android Build Support' with both 'OpenJDK' and 'Android SDK & NDK Tools' installed under 'Platforms.

• If you miss installing these, you can add them as Modules in the installs section with the 'Manage' button.

• Start a new '3D' project using the 'Universal Rendering Pipeline (URP)'.

  • Set you Unity Organization, or set one up on id.unity.com on your Unity account.

  • Give your project a name, this will be the folder name in the Project Location.

  • Assign the Project Location.

  • Toggle Use Unity Version control as desired.

  • Select '+ Create project'

Setting up the Project

• Adding the Meta XR packages.

  • Go to the Package Manager window / tab, if it is not available go to 'Window / Package Management / Package Manager'.

  • Go to 'My Assets' in the left panel and load all your assets. If you have already added the Meta packages to your account you can find them there to 'Install' at the top, if not go to the Unity Asset store and add the following to your Unity account:

    • Meta XR All-in-One SDK

    The All-in-One package includes the following as separate packages :

    • Meta XR Core SDK

    • Meta XR Audio SDK

    • Meta XR Haptics SDK

    • Meta XR Interaction SDK

    • Meta XR Interaction SDK Essentials

    • Meta XR Platform SDK

    • Meta XR Voice SDK

    • Meta XR Simulator

    • Meta Mixed Reality Utility Kit

    Depending on your approach, you could either import the packages you need one by one in order to keep your project as small as possible, or use the 'Meta XR All-in-one SDK' to install all of the packages at once for a larger filesize. The minimum requirements for Passthrough and Spatial Room effects using Controllers include :

    • Meta XR Core SDK

    • Meta Mixed Reality Utility Kit

  • You may get a popup saying there are fixes available, but wait on those until we add all the desired packages.

• Switch the project to 'Meta Quest'.

  • Go to 'File / Build Profiles'.

  • Select the 'Meta Quest' on the left of the Build Profiles Window.

  • Once added, make sure to select 'Switch Platform' at the bottom of the 'Build Profiles' window.

    • A popup may appear asking to install missing packages or enable certain settings, select 'Install' or 'Enable'.

• Refine the Project settings.

  • Select 'Player Settings' at the top of the Build Profiles window, or go to 'Edit / Project Settings'.

  • Go to 'XR Plugin Management' in the left panel.

    • On the 'Windows/Mac/Linux' tab, select 'OpenXR' + 'Meta XR Feature Group'.

    • On the 'Android/Meta Quest' tab, select 'OpenXR' + 'Meta XR Feature Group'.

  • Select 'Meta XR' section in the left panel.

    • Select 'Fix All' to the right of the window for the Project settings to be fixed.

    • Select 'Apply All' to the right of the window for the Project settings to be improved.

      • If you do not want to use the XR Simulator for any reason, then apply each item manually and skip the 'XR Simulator not installed' item.

    • The 'Manually Fixable Items' are optional for now :

      • Complete a Data Use Checkup...

      • Set up the application ID ...

    • Do this under both the 'Desktop/Mac/Linux' and 'Android/Meta Quest' tabs.

• Solve any remaining issues or warnings.

  • If you have any issues with warnings or errors still visible, you may need to do your own research to solve them as it depends on the issue.

  • Every release tends to come with at least one or two issues, so depends on which version of Unity you are using, and which approach to VR/XR you are using such as updates that have been released after this tutorial was made.

Getting Started on the Scene

• Clean up the Unity scene.

  • Remove the 'Main Camera' from the Hierarchy as we will be adding a camera through the XR Headset assets.

  • Remove the 'Global Volume' from the Hierarchy as this is usually quite expensive and better off removed.

• Add Meta 'Building Blocks' to get started.

  • Select 'Meta / Tools / Building Blocks' to display a list of assets you can add to your scene to get started quickly with your Meta Quest such as :

    • Camera rig - The basic camera rig for Virtual Reality

    • Passthrough - to have the scene background display as the cameras in order to see your real environment.

  • Select the image to see details for each Asset, or the Icon at the bottom right to install the asset into your project.