Meta Developers

Simulate a Mixed Reality Environment

Updated: Sep 4, 2024

To run a mixed reality application in Meta XR Simulator, you need to launch the Synthetic Environment Server (SES), a feature of Meta XR Simulator that enables mixed reality simulations.

Prerequisites

To use the Synthetic Environment Server, you need Meta XR Simulator installed and imported into an existing Unreal Engine project set up for XR development.

For instructions on setting up Meta XR Simulator, see Simulate a VR Environment with Meta XR Simulator.

Start the Synthetic Environment Server

To use the Synthetic Environment Server:

Activate the Meta XR Simulator.
Launch the Synthetic Environment Server (SES) by navigating to Meta XR Simulator > Synthetic Environment Server and selecting one from the three simulated environments.
The Synthetic Environment Server window opens, displaying the simulated environment.
Minimize, but do not close, the Synthetic Environment Server window. Keep it running in the background.
Click the Play button in Unreal Engine to run your game inside the simulated environment of your choice.

Note: Meta XR Simulator does not support hot-switching between environments, but you may switch to another environment without closing the first one when the simulator is not running. To do so, launch another server while the first one is running. When prompted to terminate the existing server before opening a new scene, select Yes.

Stop the Synthetic Environment Server

To stop the Synthetic Environment Server:

Exit Meta XR Simulator.
Select Meta XR Simulator > Synthetic Environment Server > Stop Server.

Example

You can explore the Synthetic Environment Server with a sample scene:

Download the Scene sample from the Samples repository.
Activate the simulator and launch the Synthetic Environment Server. Then, click the Play button in the Unreal Editor, and see scene entities superimposed on the passthrough environment.

Learn more

To learn more about Meta XR Simulator, see the following resources:

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