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Passthrough Window Tutorial

Updated: Apr 15, 2026
This tutorial extends the Basic Passthrough Tutorial to create a passthrough window, a cutout in a virtual surface that reveals the real world through passthrough.

Before You Begin

Complete the Basic Passthrough Tutorial before continuing.

Steps

1. Create a Solid Plane

  1. Open the Basic Passthrough Tutorial project.
  2. In the Place Actors tab, navigate to the Shape tab and drag a Plane into the scene. Name it SolidPlane.
  3. Set Transform > Location to (600,0,100).
  4. Set Transform > Rotation to (0, 90, 0).
  5. Create a new material named SolidMaterial and assign it to SolidPlane.

2. Create a Passthrough Plane

  1. In the Place Actors tab, navigate to the Shape tab and drag another Plane into the scene. Name it PassthroughPlane.
  2. Set Transform > Location to (590,0,100).
  3. Set Transform > Scale to (0.7,0.7,0.7).
  4. Set Transform > Rotation to (0, 90, 0).
The passthrough plane is positioned 10 units in front of the solid plane so that its alpha cutout reveals the real world through the opaque surface behind it.

3. Assign Passthrough Material

  1. In the Content Browser, navigate to OculusXR Content > Materials and locate PokeAHoleMaterial. Drag it onto PassthroughPlane in the viewport, or assign it in the Details panel under Materials.
PokeAHoleMaterial writes to the framebuffer’s alpha channel, creating a transparent region through which passthrough is visible.
Poke a hole material

4. Save, Build, and Run the Project

  1. Save the project.
  2. In the toolbar, click Platforms > Meta Quest. Unreal Engine builds, deploys, and launches the application on the connected headset.
  3. Put on the headset to test the passthrough window. You should see a small window of passthrough surrounded by a larger opaque field.
Passthrough Window tutorial output
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