Practical Hand Tracking in Unity | Start Mentor Workshop
In this Meta Horizon Start workshop, Start Mentor Valem (Quentin) walks through practical hand tracking in Unity by building and comparing three core interaction models side-by-side:
- Finger Pinch (including pinch strength values and thresholds)
- Microgestures (tap + swipes, like an “invisible joystick”)
- Hand Pose Detection (custom shapes + hand orientation to avoid false matches)
You’ll see how to set up a hand-tracking-ready Unity scene quickly using Building Blocks, then implement each input style with simple script patterns and live examples—so you can choose the best interaction method for your own XR app on Meta Horizon OS.
This session was recorded in March 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program.
🎬 CHAPTERS
👋 INTRODUCTION
🕒 00:00 - Welcome & workshop goals (comparing 3 hand tracking input models)
📋 PINCH (FINGER PINCH STRENGTH)
🕒 01:10 - What finger pinch is (and why index pinch is most reliable)
🕒 03:05 - Reading pinch strength (0–1) + using thresholds
🕒 05:10 - Interaction SDK examples (grab + ray select)
🕒 07:15 - Build demo: scene setup with Building Blocks + pinch-to-change-color spheres
🕒 10:50 - Smooth vs threshold pinch comparison + reliability notes (index vs other fingers)
📋 MICROGESTURES (INVISIBLE JOYSTICK)
🕒 14:10 - What microgestures are (tap + swipe directions) + use cases
🕒 16:00 - Reading microgesture type in code (switch/cases)
🕒 18:10 - Demo: show detected gesture in TextMeshPro
🕒 20:10 - Note: Interaction SDK locomotion uses microgestures (turn/teleport)
🕒 22:20 - Examples: character movement + UI navigation (and fixing missing EventSystem)
📋 HAND POSE DETECTION (SHAPE + ORIENTATION)
🕒 27:10 - Hand pose detection concepts: shape + orientation
🕒 28:40 - Create a custom Shape (thumbs up) using curl settings
🕒 31:10 - Trigger events when pose is recognized (active state → Unity events)
🕒 33:10 - Fixing thumbs up vs thumbs down: add wrist orientation (Transform Recognizer)
🕒 36:00 - Build thumbs down variant + wrap-up (choosing the right input model)
📚 RESOURCES
➡️ Meta Horizon Developer Forum: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/category/horizon-developer-forum
➡️ Developers Blog: https://developers.meta.com/resources/blog/
➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/ts-mqdh/
🔗 CONNECT WITH US
Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/newsletter
💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM
The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS.
Apply to Start today: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/programs/start
