3 Methods For Grabbing Objects in VR With Unity's XR Interaction Toolkit

Earlier this month, Unity Technologies announced that its flagship real-time 3D engine had been enhanced with support for Apple Vision Pro's visionOS.

The update allowed Unity Pro, Enterprise, and Industry subscribers to utilize the engine's authoring workflows, built-in XR tools, and cross-platform compatibility for developing AR/VR experiences for Apple's new headset. Now, the engine includes templates, samples, and other resources aimed at assisting developers in creating immersive mixed-reality games and apps using Unity's PolySpatial technology for Vision Pro.

Following the announcement, the interest in using Unity for VR/AR development drastically increased. Many developers were eager to experiment with the new technology and understand the advantages the engine offers. To aid these newcomers in navigating Unity for VR, Game Developer and Content Creator Piotr M. has recently shared a concise tutorial focusing on the basics of object interactions within the engine.

In under a minute, the developer covered three ways to implement grabbing in VR. The methods showcased by Piotr revolve around the use of Unity's XR Interaction Toolkit, a component-based system tailored for creating VR and AR experiences.

This toolkit offers a framework that enables 3D and UI interactions through Unity input events. Its core consists of base components like Interactor and Interactable, alongside an Interaction Manager that bridges these component types. It also includes components for locomotion and visual rendering. You can watch the full tutorial on how the system can be used for implementing grabbing mechanics for VR games attached above or by visiting Piotr's LinkedIn page.

And here are some of the developer's previous tips and tricks videos on Unity game development:

We also recommend checking out Piotr's Sunny Valley Studio YouTube channel, filled to the brim with insightful tutorials on VR development in Unity.

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