Oct 5, 2023

Unity Package Manager (UPM): Important Meta XR SDK Release Updates for Unity

Last year, we announced Unity Package Manager (UPM) as a new method of downloading and managing individual Integration SDK packages for Unity. We received feedback from developers that downloading individual Meta XR packages allows for a more flexible and efficient integration process, and today we’re excited to announce that UPM will be the standard method of releasing Meta XR SDKs on the Unity Asset Store starting with v59. You can start getting familiar with downloading Meta XR SDKs via UPM with the beta release here⁠.

To streamline the integration process and provide more consistency for developers building in Unity, we’re also deprecating the existing all-in-one Unity asset package beginning with v59. These changes should give developers building in Unity the tools to improve organization, prevent build errors, decrease the footprint of their downloads, and more. Dive in to learn more about the different packages on UPM today and what these changes mean for you.

A More Organized, Modular Integration Experience

As we’ve added SDKs to give you more tools to create rich, immersive experiences, the all-in-one Unity asset package has presented various obstacles for seamless updates and integration. By leveraging UPM for your Meta XR SDKs,you can choose which specific packages are integrated, which simplifies the process and streamlines maintenance when updating in the future. Dependencies within each package will also be resolved automatically so you don’t need to worry about unexpected disruptions when updating any package.

Good asset organization always helps when iterating projects as they become more complex and packages are updated. With UPM, package contents are managed separately from the project’s assets folder, allowing for clean upgrades and easier organization without requiring you to stub files.

Start Downloading Meta XR SDK Packages Today

With v59, all Meta XR SDK packages will be released on UPM via the Unity Asset Store—but you can get a head start by downloading individual packages on the beta version⁠ today. All of the following packages will be available via UPM with v59.

com.meta.xr.sdk.core

Contains many essential functionalities which Meta XR headsets provide, including the camera rig, touch controller, hand tracking, composition layer, passthrough, anchor, scene management, and much more.

com.meta.xr.simulator

Meta XR Simulator is a lightweight OpenXR runtime built for developers that enables the simulation of Meta Quest headsets and features on the API level. It makes day-to-day development easier by enabling testing and debugging of apps without the need to put on and take off a headset frequently and helps scale automation by simplifying your testing environment setup.

com.meta.xr.sdk.platform

Use the Platform SDK to create social VR applications. Add Matchmaking, DLC, In-App Purchases, Cloud Storage, Voice Chat, Custom Items, Achievements, and more to your experience using the individual components of the SDK.

com.meta.xr.sdk.audio

Meta XR Audio SDK provides spatial audio functionality including head-related transfer function (HRTF) based object and ambisonic spatialization, as well as room acoustics simulation. It’s a replacement for the Oculus Spatializer plugin.

comcom.meta.xr.sdk.interaction

Interaction SDK adds interactions like ray, poke, locomotion, and grab for controllers, hands, and controllers as hands. Each interaction is designed to be modular and work in both simple and complex VR applications. Interaction SDK also has features just for hands, including hand-specific interactions, pose and gesture detection, and debug visuals.

com.meta.xr.sdk.interaction.ovr

This package allows Interaction SDK to interface with OVRPlugin. Use this package if you’re using OVRPlugin or the Utilities package.

com.meta.xr.sdk.interaction.ovr.samples

Contains sample scenes, prefabs, and art assets for Interaction SDK, using OVR variants of the player rig.

com.meta.xr.sdk.voice

Use the Voice SDK to bring voice interactions to your app and enhance the AR/VR experience with more natural and flexible ways for people to interact with their surroundings and each other.

Deprecating the All-in-One Unity Asset Package

Starting with v59, the all-in-one Unity asset package containing Meta XR SDKs will no longer be available for download on the Unity Asset Store, and all packages available with the all-in-one package will be available for individual download via UPM. Updates and packages prior to v59 will still be available for download in Developer Center and can be referenced there using the “Version” drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner.

Developers who want a similar experience to the existing all-in-one Unity asset package can look out for a new helper package we’ll be adding soon called "Meta XR All-in-One SDK.” This package can provide a similar setup experience to the existing all-in-one asset package.

For the latest news and updates for VR developers, follow us on X/Twitter⁠ and Facebook⁠.

OpenXR

Platform SDK

Quest

Unity

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