Hello,
I’m about to start a project using unreal 5.1 and AR, and plan on getting a Magic leap 2.
Before purchasing the headset, I would like to ask some questions:
The only other post I found mentioning unreal speaks of a pipeline being accessible early this year, is there any news on that? And which version would it target? Unreal Engine support?
Are there projects/people using the magic leap 2 with unreal 5.1?
What would be the best approach? Using the native library or using OpenXR?
Hi @anthonyM Welcome to the Magic Leap 2 Forum and thank you for your post. Yes we are actively working toward Unreal Engine support starting with 5.1 this year, though I don't have a firm date. We are working with developers who are using Magic Leap 2 with Unreal 5.1, but please note in an unofficial capacity as we work to officially support the Unreal Engine. As far as the native library or OpenXR, both are great choices.
@VirtuosoCEO and @anthonyM I do want to update our initial timeline based on my discussion with our engineering team involved. We anticipate having more news to share closer to Summer 2023. I wanted you to have our best current estimated timeline. Thanks for your posts and interest in Magic Leap.
Hi @yuna.seo Excited to tell you we're scheduled to launch our Unreal Engine support Aug 30 along with our latest OS and SDK release. This will be a preview release for our Magic Leap Unreal Engine SDK, meaning it won't have full features just yet, but our subsequent releases will build out more functionality. Please stay tuned for more.
I see this uses a custom engine branch of 5.1.1 and I can confirm it doesn't build in source 5.2.1.
In the future, is it a plan to be able to use any engine build like the ML1, or does ML plan to always require the use of a custom source build?
Meta also requires this for Quest, and I am trying to stick to purely OpenXR and avoid custom engines, as they are each heavily modified for certain devices which breaks many cross-platform compatibilities since the custom code fails to compile for other platforms that may not use the plugin at all. I have sacrificed using Meta's hands, eye, and face tracking because the custom engine requirement. I am hoping they make a purely OpenXR based workflow someday.
My app has an AR and VR mode, and runs on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Quest, and ML2. The big challenge is getting it to run on every device, which custom source engines usually are a barrier to this.