Design

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Updated: Mar 16, 2026

This section walks you through setting up your development environment and building your first prototype. The guides are designed to be followed in order, and each one picks up where the previous one left off.

How the guides are organized

Step	Guide	What it covers	Do it...
1	Hardware setup	Verify your PC, headset, and USB cable	Once
2	Software setup	Create accounts, install tools, configure your headset, and create your first project	Once
3	Hands Quickstart Guide	Build a hand-tracked UI with buttons, sliders, and toggles, then test it	Per prototype

Steps 1 and 2 are one-time setup. Once your hardware and software are configured, you won’t need to repeat them. Step 3 is where you start building. As more quickstart guides become available, you’ll be able to jump straight from your completed setup into any of them.

If you’ve already set up your environment

If you’ve already completed the hardware and software setup (or followed the Unity Hello World tutorial), your project is ready. Go directly to the Hands Quickstart Guide.

Choosing a testing method

Each guide references three ways to test your prototype. You don’t need to pick one up front because you can switch between them at any time.

	Meta XR Simulator	Meta Horizon Link	Build and Run
Speed	Fastest	Fast	Slowest
Requires headset	No	Yes	Yes
Hand tracking	Simulated (keyboard/mouse)	Real (streamed)	Real (on device)
Best for	Layout, interaction logic	Rapid device testing	Final device validation
Platform	Windows, macOS	Windows only	Windows, macOS

Start with Meta XR Simulator for rapid iteration, use Meta Horizon Link for real hand tracking without building an APK, then Build and Run for final device validation.

Meta Horizon Link streams your app directly to the headset from the Unity Editor. It requires a Windows PC and a USB or Wi-Fi connection. No APK build step is needed.

Next steps

Ready to begin? Start with the Hardware setup.

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