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Simulating Look and Pinch input in Meta XR Simulator

Updated: Sep 3, 2026

Use Look and Pinch mode to test gaze, pinch, and microgesture input for Meta VR Glasses with a mouse and keyboard. This mode is available when Meta XR Simulator uses the Meta VR Glasses device profile.

Look and Pinch mode is available in Meta XR Simulator v207 and later. Your app must implement the gaze and hand interactions that you want to test. For an introduction to the simulator, see Meta XR Simulator.

Enable Look and Pinch mode

Start your OpenXR app with Meta XR Simulator and open the Inputs panel.
Under Device info, open Device.
Select Meta VR Glasses.
Stop and restart the app to apply the device change. If you are using an editor, stop and re-enter Play mode.
Return to Inputs. Under Input settings, open Left input or Right input, then select Look and Pinch.

Selecting Look and Pinch turns on Use same input for both sides, so the simulator supplies gaze and both hands together. It also turns on and locks Point & click under Keyboard and mouse. Compatibility mode and ISDK pointer offset are turned off while Look and Pinch mode is active.

The Inputs panel with Left input and Right input set to Look and Pinch, and the controls this locks shown greyed out.

The GazeExamples scene in the Unity Interaction SDK samples is a starting point for testing Look and Pinch interactions in the simulator. See Example Scenes for how to import the samples.

Test Look and Pinch input

The simulator represents each hand through the OpenXR hand-interaction profile, /interaction_profiles/ext/hand_interaction_ext. Your app binds actions to inputs in that profile, such as the hand aim pose and the pinch value. Moving a simulated hand or clicking to pinch updates those OpenXR input states. It does not invoke your game events or callbacks directly.

Moving the mouse without holding a button directs gaze. To move a hand, choose Right - Controller or Left - Controller under Keyboard and mouse > Action input. This setting selects the action hand; Right - Controller is the default.

Input	Result
Move the mouse	Direct gaze at the pointer location
Left-click	Pinch with the action hand
Left-click and drag	Pinch and move the action hand horizontally or vertically
Hold Ctrl and move the mouse	Move the action hand without pinching
Hold Ctrl or left-click, then scroll	Move the action hand in depth
Press Space	Reset both hands to their default poses

Holding the right mouse button and scrolling does not move the hand.

Only the action hand performs pinch and microgesture input. Change Action input to test the other hand.

Test microgestures

Use the default keyboard bindings to simulate microgestures on the action hand.

Key	Microgesture
I	Thumb tap
Y	Swipe forward
H	Swipe backward
G	Swipe left
J	Swipe right

Open the Input bindings panel to view or change these bindings. Thumb Tap is under Hand actions. The swipe bindings are under Quest buttons, where the panel names them after thumbstick directions rather than swipes.

The Input bindings panel, showing thumbstick directions bound to Y, H, G and J, and Thumb Tap bound to I.

Troubleshooting

Look and Pinch is not listed

Confirm that Meta VR Glasses is selected under Device info, then restart the app. The input option is not available for other device profiles.

The pointer moves, but the app does not respond to gaze

Confirm that the app enables XR_EXT_eye_gaze_interaction and handles eye-gaze input. Meta XR Simulator supplies input through OpenXR, but it does not add gaze interaction behavior to the app.

A microgesture does not trigger an app action

Confirm that the app enables both XR_EXT_hand_interaction and XR_META_hand_tracking_microgestures, handles the microgesture, and uses the hand selected under Action input.

Test on a headset

Meta XR Simulator is an OpenXR runtime, not a device or Horizon OS emulator. It does not provide every platform service, and desktop input does not reproduce the physical feel of gaze and hand interaction. Validate platform integration, interaction comfort, and release behavior on a supported headset.

For other simulator controls, see Meta XR Simulator input simulation.