Dive into the Latest Hand Tracking Improvements with v2.1 Update

With the release of OS v47 we introduced Hand Tracking 2.1, our latest step forward in providing meaningful improvements to hand tracking quality in VR. Hand Tracking 2.1 features key upgrades in reliability, accuracy, and system pinch quality to improve the consistency and flexibility of hand inputs in your VR apps. Best of all, there’s no action needed for you to benefit from the latest Hand Tracking update.

Below we dive into what this update means for your apps and users, as well as some automatic upgrades that will improve hand tracking in your apps.

With Hand Tracking 2.1, apps will be able to reduce tracking loss and predict future positions better than ever before. Recovery times have also been greatly reduced after incurring a loss when hands fall outside the FOV. Reducing recovery time will strengthen immersion and provide smoother interactions for users. You can see examples of these improvements in the video below from Meta Connect 2022.

These improvements are useful across many VR experiences, but they’re particularly valuable for apps that encourage quick movements, like fitness apps. Across the board, the Hand Tracking 2.1 upgrades in handling fast-motion movements will help reduce jitter and strengthen the tracking continuity in your apps. This also means that users’ hand positions will recover faster after exiting the FOV and returning.

Additionally, Hand Tracking 2.1 features improved system pinch quality made possible with new machine learning logic. To optimize the interactions in your apps, we strongly recommend integrating our Interaction SDK, which contains a library of components used for hands- and controller-based interactions. These components allow you to pick and choose the features you want to use for flexible integration. To help you get started with Interaction SDK, we created an in-depth guide to walk you through the SDK’s benefits, interactions, and tips for integration.

In September 2022, we announced that Hand Tracking 1.0 is scheduled to be deprecated in April 2023. As a first step towards deprecation, we’ve changed the default to Hand Tracking 2.0, allowing all apps that aren’t explicitly set to use Hands 1.0 to benefit from the 2.1 enhancements mentioned above. If for any reason you prefer to temporarily continue using Hand Tracking 1.0, you may do so until final deprecation in April 2023 by updating your manifest to use Hand Tracking 1.0.

Updating to Hand Tracking 2.0 doesn’t require any action from developers, and we believe this change will enhance the quality and capabilities of hand tracking across our app ecosystem. Hand Tracking 2.0 allows you to take full advantage of the many hands-driven interactions available with Interaction SDK.

Since we first introduced hand tracking capabilities on Meta Quest back in 2019, we’ve been blown away by the captivating experiences our developer community has built with this technology. The hands-driven interactions you’ve created with Hand Tracking are fueling innovation across the ecosystem and are central to driving deeper, more natural feelings of immersion in VR. If you want to learn more about Hand Tracking 2.0 and how to integrate it into your title, check out our documentation.