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Important

With the creation of the new Mixed Reality Toolkit organization, there now exists two MRTK repositories, one repository for version 3+ and a legacy one for version 2.

MRTK v3+

New versions of the Mixed Reality Toolkit will be released by the Mixed Reality Toolkit organization using a repository at https://github.com/MixedRealityToolkit/MixedRealityToolkit-Unity. Visit this repository for the latest version of the MRTK project, and when creating new issues or discussion topics for MRTK version 3 or later.

MRTK v2 (Legacy)

The old MRTK2 repository, https://github.com/microsoft/MixedRealityToolkit-Unity, is remaining under Microsoft's management and will stay on version 2. Microsoft is committed to the next version of MRTK, and recommends applications move to MRTK version 3 or later. However, Microsoft will continue to support and address critical MRTK2 issues, until MRTK2 is deprecated. Please open MRTK2 issues and discussion topics using the old repository.



Mixed Reality Toolkit

MRTK_AWE_AuggieAwards_2021a

What is the Mixed Reality Toolkit

MRTK-Unity is a Microsoft-driven project that provides a set of components and features, used to accelerate cross-platform MR app development in Unity. Here are some of its functions:

  • Provides the cross-platform input system and building blocks for spatial interactions and UI.
  • Enables rapid prototyping via in-editor simulation that allows you to see changes immediately.
  • Operates as an extensible framework that provides developers the ability to swap out core components.
  • Supports a wide range of devices:
XR SDK Plugin (Unity XR Plugin Management Providers) Supported Devices
Unity OpenXR Plugin (Unity 2020 or 2021 LTS)
(Mixed Reality OpenXR Plugin required for certain features on certain devices)
Microsoft HoloLens 2
Windows Mixed Reality headsets
Meta Quest
Device running on SteamVR via OpenXR
Windows XR Plugin Microsoft HoloLens
Microsoft HoloLens 2
Windows Mixed Reality headsets
Oculus XR Plugin (Unity 2019 or newer LTS) Meta Quest (via Oculus Integration Package)
ARCore XR Plug-in Android (via AR Foundation)
ARKit XR Plug-in iOS (via AR Foundation)

Additional devices supported:

NOTE: We have introduced the public preview of MRTK3, the next chapter of MRTK. For documentation, please go to the MRTK3 documentation. For code, please go to the mrtk3 branch.

Getting started with MRTK

If you're new to MRTK or Mixed Reality development in Unity, we recommend you start at the beginning of our Unity development journey in the Microsoft Docs. The Unity development journey is specifically tailored to walk new developers through the installation, core concepts, and usage of MRTK.

IMPORTANT: The Unity development journey currently uses MRTK version 2.8.2, Mixed Reality OpenXR plugin version 1.6.0 and Unity 2020.3.42+.

If you're an experienced Mixed Reality or MRTK developer, check the links in the next section for the newest packages and release notes.

Documentation

Starting from MRTK 2.6, we are publishing both conceptual docs and API references on docs.microsoft.com. For conceptual docs, please visit our new landing page. For API references, please visit the MRTK-Unity section of the dot net API explorer. Existing content will remain here but will not be updated further.

Release notes
Release Notes
MRTK Overview
MRTK Overview
Feature Guides
Feature Guides
API Reference
API Reference

Build status

Branch CI Status Docs Status
main CI Status Docs Validation (MRTK2)

Required software

Windows SDK Windows SDK Unity Unity 2018/2019/2020 LTS Visual Studio 2019 Visual Studio 2019 Emulators (optional) Emulators (optional)

Please refer to the Install the tools page for more detailed information.

Feature areas

Input System
Input System
 
Hand Tracking<br/> (HoloLens 2)
Hand Tracking
(HoloLens 2)

 
Eye Tracking<br/> (HoloLens 2)
Eye Tracking
(HoloLens 2)

 
Profiles
Profiles
 
Hand Tracking<br/> (Ultraleap)
Hand Tracking
(Ultraleap)

 
UI Controls
UI Controls
 
Solvers
Solvers
 
Multi-Scene<br/> Manager
Multi-Scene
Manager
Spatial<br/> Awareness
Spatial
Awareness
Diagnostic<br/> Tool
Diagnostic
Tool
MRTK Standard Shader
MRTK Standard
Shader
Speech & Dictation
Speech
& Dictation
Boundary<br/>System
Boundary
System
In-Editor<br/>Simulation
In-Editor
Simulation
Experimental<br/>Features
Experimental
Features

UX building blocks

Button Button Bounds Control Bounds Control Object Manipulator Object Manipulator
A button control which supports various input methods, including HoloLens 2's articulated hand Standard UI for manipulating objects in 3D space Script for manipulating objects with one or two hands
Slate Slate System Keyboard System Keyboard Interactable Interactable
2D style plane which supports scrolling with articulated hand input Example script of using the system keyboard in Unity A script for making objects interactable with visual states and theme support
Solver Solver Object Collection Object Collection Tooltip Tooltip
Various object positioning behaviors such as tag-along, body-lock, constant view size and surface magnetism Script for laying out an array of objects in a three-dimensional shape Annotation UI with a flexible anchor/pivot system, which can be used for labeling motion controllers and objects
Slider Slider MRTK Standard Shader MRTK Standard Shader Hand Menu Hand Menu
Slider UI for adjusting values supporting direct hand tracking interaction MRTK's Standard shader supports various Fluent design elements with performance Hand-locked UI for quick access, using the Hand Constraint Solver
App Bar App Bar Pointers Pointers Fingertip Visualization Fingertip Visualization
UI for Bounds Control's manual activation Learn about various types of pointers Visual affordance on the fingertip which improves the confidence for the direct interaction
Near Menu Near Menu Spatial Awareness Spatial Awareness Voice Command Voice Command / Dictation
Floating menu UI for the near interactions Make your holographic objects interact with the physical environments Scripts and examples for integrating speech input
Progress Indicator Progress Indicator Dialog Dialog [Experimental] Hand Coach Hand Coach
Visual indicator for communicating data process or operation UI for asking for user's confirmation or acknowledgement Component that helps guide the user when the gesture has not been taught
Hand Physics Service Hand Physics Service [Experimental] Scrolling Collection Scrolling Collection Dock Dock [Experimental]
The hand physics service enables rigid body collision events and interactions with articulated hands An Object Collection that natively scrolls 3D objects The Dock allows objects to be moved in and out of predetermined positions
Eye Tracking: Target Selection Eye Tracking: Target Selection Eye Tracking: Navigation Eye Tracking: Navigation Eye Tracking: Heat Map Eye Tracking: Heat Map
Combine eyes, voice and hand input to quickly and effortlessly select holograms across your scene Learn how to auto-scroll text or fluently zoom into focused content based on what you are looking at Examples for logging, loading and visualizing what users have been looking at in your app

Tools

Optimize Window Optimize Window Dependency Window Dependency Window Build Window Build Window Input recording Input recording
Automate configuration of Mixed Reality projects for performance optimizations Analyze dependencies between assets and identify unused assets Configure and execute an end-to-end build process for Mixed Reality applications Record and playback head movement and hand tracking data in editor

Example scenes

Explore MRTK's various types of interactions and UI controls through the example scenes. You can find example scenes under Assets/MRTK/Examples/Demos folder.

Example Scene

MRTK examples hub

With the MRTK Examples Hub, you can try various example scenes in MRTK. On HoloLens 2, you can download and install MRTK Examples Hub through the Microsoft Store app.

See Examples Hub README page to learn about the details on creating a multi-scene hub with MRTK's scene system and scene transition service.

Example Scene

Sample apps made with MRTK

Periodic Table of the Elements Galaxy Explorer Galaxy Explorer
Periodic Table of the Elements is an open-source sample app which demonstrates how to use MRTK's input system and building blocks to create an app experience for HoloLens and Immersive headsets. Read the porting story: Bringing the Periodic Table of the Elements app to HoloLens 2 with MRTK v2 Galaxy Explorer is an open-source sample app that was originally developed in March 2016 as part of the HoloLens 'Share Your Idea' campaign. Galaxy Explorer has been updated with new features for HoloLens 2, using MRTK v2. Read the story: The Making of Galaxy Explorer for HoloLens 2 Surfaces is an open-source sample app for HoloLens 2 which explores how we can create a tactile sensation with visual, audio, and fully articulated hand-tracking. Check out Microsoft MR Dev Days session Learnings from the Surfaces app for the detailed design and development story.

Session videos from Mixed Reality Dev Days 2020

MRDevDays MRDevDays MRDevDays
Tutorial on how to create a simple MRTK app from start to finish. Learn about interaction concepts and MRTK’s multi-platform capabilities. Deep dive on the MRTK’s UX building blocks that help you build beautiful mixed reality experiences. An introduction to performance tools, both in MRTK and external, as well as an overview of the MRTK Standard Shader.

See Mixed Reality Dev Days to explore more session videos.

Engage with the community

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information, see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact opencode@microsoft.com with any additional questions or comments.

Useful resources on the Mixed Reality Dev Center

Discover Discover Design Design Develop Develop Distribute Distribute
Learn to build mixed reality experiences for HoloLens and immersive headsets (VR). Get design guides. Build user interface. Learn interactions and input. Get development guides. Learn the technology. Understand the science. Get your app ready for others and consider creating a 3D launcher.

Useful resources on Azure

Spatial Anchors
Spatial Anchors
Speech Services
Speech Services
Vision Services
Vision Services
Spatial Anchors is a cross-platform service that allows you to create Mixed Reality experiences using objects that persist their location across devices over time. Discover and integrate Azure powered speech capabilities like speech to text, speaker recognition or speech translation into your application. Identify and analyze your image or video content using Vision Services like computer vision, face detection, emotion recognition or video indexer.

Learn more about the MRTK project

You can find our planning material on our wiki under the Project Management Section. You can always see the items the team is actively working on in the Iteration Plan issue.

How to contribute

Learn how you can contribute to MRTK at Contributing.

For details on the different branches used in the Mixed Reality Toolkit repositories, check this Branch Guide here.