VR Tutorial

Hardware Requirements for Linking Headset

Before advancing any further lets start by setting up the Link connection between the Meta Quest 2 headset and your personal device running Unity.

In order to connect your Meta Quest headset to your device via the Meta Quest Link, your device must meet certain hardware and system requirements. This is because the device will be doing all the rendering and processing work while the headset simply displays the visuals that it receives from the device. The Meta Quest 2 does not require a connection to run apps on the headset, but utilizing the Meta Quest Link allows the headset to run more apps from the Oculus store and run at higher quality by using the connected device. It also allows you to run apps from Unity Editor on the headset, which is why your device will need to meet the Meta Quest Link requirements for our purposes. However, your device does not need to meet the requirements if you are solely developing on this device and not connecting to a headset.

To connect to a headset, the device itself must be a PC that is running Windows 10 or 11 with an Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater processor and at least 8 GB of RAM. There is also a number of graphics cards that are supported, which can be found here: Link Requirements. The Link can be wired through a high-quality USB-C cable, which can be purchased as an accessory from Meta here: Link Cable, or separately from a third-party. The Link can also be wireless through the use of Air Link via Wi-Fi, though a cable connection is recommended for better performance and ease of use, so we will cover the cable connection.

Link

If your device meets the recommended specifications and you have a valid USB-C cable to connect your device to the headset, then you can begin setting up your Meta Quest Link. Once you have Oculus downloaded to your device, you will need to install the Meta Link software, which you can find here: Meta Quest Setup. Go to the "Air Link and Link Cable" section and click Download Software to start downloading. This download link will only work for windows devices.

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First Steps

If you would like a nice visual reference to follow along with before testing the link to your device, you can refer to this video which details a few nice easy steps that you could do. Certain steps in the video have already been described previously in this tutorial and the information provided below should be sufficient, however for visual learners this could be a good starting point: Setup for VR Development

The headset must be in developer mode in order to connect it to your device.

  • Put on the Meta Quest headset and sign into a developer account that you would like to use for development.
  • In the headset, navigate to Settings -> System -> Developer and then turn on the USB Connection Dialog option.
  • Now we can start testing the connection. Connect the headset to your device using a compatible USB-C cable.
  • When prompted to allow access to data, click Allow.
  •  Ensure that both your personal device and the headset are on the same network connection.
  • Navigate to the settings in the Meta Quest headset. You can achieve this by pressing the Oculus button on your controllers and then navigating to the bottom left. (This should be indicated by the clock, a battery indicator, and a Wi-Fi connection indicator.
  • Now navigate to the gear icon on the top right that says settings. 
  • There should now be a button on the UI for quest link, make sure to press and toggle that button to enable quest link.

1. Now navigate over to the Oculus or Meta app homepage on your personal device

2. Navigate to the "Devices" tab found on the left. If you have previously set up a connection with a different headset they can be found in this tab as well.

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3. Click the Add Device option, then select the headset type that you are trying to pair and click Continue.

 

4. Now select your connection method and click Continue. The Link method is preferred, so connect the USB-C to your device and connect the other end to the port on the left side of the headset.

 

5. This will open the "Connect Your Headset" screen. If you have completed the previous steps to enable quest link in the meta quest headset, after a few seconds the connection should be complete. Then click Continue.

 

 6. Your headset is now connected to your device, which you can verify in the "Devices" tab in the Oculus app.

To ensure that we will be able to test our Unity application with the headset navigate to Settings in the left tab and make sure to also turn on the Unknown Sources setting. This allows app that have not been reviewed by Oculus to be run. This allows apps to run directly from Unity Editor on the headset.

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Your headset is now connected to your device so that your Unity application can run on the headset. Make sure to set the boundary of your headset before running your project. More information on how to set the boundary of your headset can be found here: Meta Quest Boundary Setup.