Passthrough camera data is not available on Quest 3 developing with Unity

[ginestopo]

Basically it is not possible to access the real time passthrough video from Quest 3 in Unity.

Many devs among the internet think it is a crucial feature to be able to process to create incredible mixed reality apps with object recognition using machine learning. Nevertheless, it is not possible to access the real time video captured by quest 3 in unity.

Here is a reddit post made by me where people are requesting this feature.

Please, we need access to real time passthrough video in Unity or other engines.

[PhDog]

I am quite certain that Apple is not going to grant these permissions given their stance on data privacy. In fact, their primary marketing page explicitly states in no uncertain terms that they will not grant access to the cameras or sensors: (https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/)

• "Data from the cameras and sensors is processed at the system level, so individual apps do not need to see your surroundings to enable spatial experiences."

The API lists only a standard set of Computer Vision tasks, which almost all competitor headsets permit (perhaps with the exception of Image tracking - I suspect Apple will do a good job with this, but will only permit keywords of objects that they have trained their own models to recognize.)

I have to say that unfortunately I'm not the type to hold my breath. I give my support for this - but my solution has been to just build my own AR headset for my own purposes. Eventually, I would like to open source this project for those of you who are looking to build similar applications, but likely not until I've progressed further into my dissertation.

[seeingwithsound]

Not just Unity: pixel-level access to raw camera frames is blocked on the Quest devices also for Android apps as well as platform-independent web apps. The privacy argument is weak: my own web app aimed at totally blind users does not store or transmit any images or video, as device developers (at Meta) can verify at API level https://www.seeingwithsound.com/webvoice/webvoice.htm No problems with smartphones, but I'd love to enable blind users to use a Quest for training purposes at home. #blind #accessibility

[ginestopo]

Hi @myquestg ! thanks for your support. The answer to the video you attached is no. The user in the video is not using a standalone developed app (the biggest hint is the mouse that appears in the video). He instead is streaming the data to the pc and the pc is processing the image by using some custom computer vision app. So no, he neither had access to video data.
This is impractical, because the interesting apps regarding computer vision for quest 3 relies on the standalone capabilities. So we stay with the same problem... we need Meta to provide access to video data.

Have a nice day!

[ginestopo]

@seeingwithsound That's a perfect example of one of endless possibilities of making use of raw data video! Blind people could benefit enormously from this! No doubt that would be a game changer.

[butterfly557]

+1 to this as well! We need the ability to have computer vision models running alongside quest 3! 

[pierpawolf]

As a XR apps developer it would be very useful add some features like image tracking and so on.. I mean, you guys from Meta are always talking about privacy.. why you can't make something like asking permessions for camera data like smartphones? I mean in this way all the "privacy part" would be resolved, right?

[cmcsm]

Was excited to explore some of the XR capabilities, and wanted to be able to allow a user to sign into our application using a QR Code similar to how discord does for example. Kind of a bummer. 

Theres plenty of logical usecases. Even in the meta workrooms you can video chat from VR to a real webcam, now imagine if I could opt in and share my feed of my passthrough camera. Could help someone build their computer in VR/AR space from the comfort of my desktop, or allow someone to take a progress screenshot from their headset if they are doing something in an XR app. Not to mention all the previously stated training/QR code applications in this thread. Really hope we can opt into this somehow. 

Edit: If you cant do this in apple vision pro as well (so ive heard, I havent developed much with it yet), meta automatically gets a competitive advantage if they make it possible. Just a thought. 

[finofinissimo]

Yeah we should

[yvettemuki]

Totally agree. Oculus or Vision Pro should provide access for researchers/developers to the raw camera feed. If they are considering the privacy problem. Just don't let the application be published in the app store.

[ginestopo]

You are right! In addition, from my point of view as a developer. They are starting to loose credibility, as they are advertising their product as the "Open" alternative and we aren't even able to access the main component of the device (the passthrough camera).

It feels like they are killing their own potential. They are providing tons of AI models and without the feature we are requesting there's no way of combining both to reveal the true potential of XR.