Meta’s Interaction SDK for Unity has received a major update, adding new movement modes for hand tracking and allowing for more customizable throws.
Interaction SDK is a Unity framework that provides high-quality common interactions for controllers and hand tracking. This includes direct object retrieval, distance retrieval, interactable UI elements, gesture detection, and more. This means developers don’t have to reinvent the wheel and users don’t have to relearn interactions between apps using SDKs.
The Meta Interaction SDK is also available for Unreal Engine, but that version lacks many features including these new additions and improvements.
New movement options for hand tracking
Almost three years ago, Interaction SDK acquired a teleportation movement system for controller-free hand tracking, and a free demo using it is now available in the store.
Meta Interaction SDK gets hand tracking teleport and demo
Meta has added a hand-tracking teleportation system to its Interaction SDK and released a short demo game that utilizes it.
The v83 update introduced three new movement options for hand tracking.
“Telepath” movement
“Telepath” travel is like a hybrid of teleportation and smooth travel.
Tap your thumb next to your index finger to initiate a microgesture, and instead of teleporting to your chosen location, it will slide there smoothly.
If there is a jumpable obstacle on the path, it will automatically jump over it.
“Stick” movement
“Stick” movement allows players to press a virtual, optionally invisible stick against the virtual floor to move forward.
It’s similar to the movement system popularized by Gorilla Tag, but instead of pretending to be a short creature with a controller, it’s just optimized for hand tracking and standing height.
climbing
Many VR games include climbing, but most focus on tracked controllers that use grip triggers to grab holds.
The Climb Interaction SDK also supports controller-free hand tracking, extending the current Grabbable concept to Climbable. At a fundamental level, the results are essentially the opposite. Instead of moving the grabbed object to the player, it moves the player towards the grabbed object.
More customizable throwing methods
According to Meta, the Interaction SDK’s throwing system has been improved to include more customization options for different types of throws.
According to Meta, this includes:
Accurate slow bowling with darts and weighted arc motion Frisbee style flight path for cornhole, football, basketball
Similar to movement improvements, these new throwing options are optimized for controller-free hand tracking.
Meta Interaction SDK now supports Unreal and non-Meta headsets
Meta’s Interaction SDK now supports Unreal Engine, and the Unity version now supports non-Meta headsets.
For over a year, the Interaction SDK has supported non-meta headsets, so VR developers targeting other platforms should be able to use these new movement systems for hand tracking.
