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Version: 14 Oct 2024

HoloLens 2 to Magic Leap 2 Porting Guide

Porting your MRTK-based HoloLens 2 application to Magic Leap 2 requires only a few adjustments to your Unity project environment. Using the Magic Leap 2 Unity SDK and MRTK Magic Leap 2 plugin according to this guide will get your project running on the Magic Leap 2 with minimal effort.

note

The MRTK Magic Leap 2 plugin currently only supports MRTK v2.8.

Platform Overview​

There are several key differences between the HoloLens 2 and Magic Leap 2 MRTK development environment:

HoloLens 2Magic Leap 2
ArchitectureARM64x86_64
Unity editor version2021.3 LTS2022.2.x or newer
Render PipelineLightweight Render PipelineUniversal Render Pipeline
Build TargetUniversal Windows PlatformAndroid
Interaction methodHand trackingController, Hand tracking
XR Plugin ManagmentOpenXRMagic Leap

MRTK Feature Support​

HoloLens 2Magic Leap 2
Spatial Mapping✓✓
Hand Tracking✓✓
Voice✓✓
Eye Tracking✓✓
Controller✓
System Keyboard✓
Plane Detection✓
Hand Mesh✓

Porting Prerequisites​

  • Your project must use Microsoft MRTK v2.8
  • You have downloaded and installed the latest compatible versions of the Magic Leap Unity SDK, MRTK Magic Leap 2 package, and Unity editor as outlined in the guides below.
  • If your project uses the Hololens System keyboard, you will need to replace the system keyboard calls with MRTK's NonNativeKeyboard alternative.

Update your Unity Project for Magic Leap 2​

Part 1: Update and configure your Unity project settings​

  1. Update your Unity editor version to 2022.3.0 or higher.
  2. Download and install the latest compatible versions of the Magic Leap OS and Magic Leap SDK. Use this compatibility matrix to check version compatibility.
  3. Open your Unity project in the new version of the Unity editor and complete the steps in the Configure Project Settings Unity guide.
  4. Follow the Render Pipeline Settings Unity guide to change your render pipeline settings to the Universal Render Pipeline.

Part 2: Implement the MRTK - Magic Leap 2 plugin​

  1. Follow the Set Up MRTK for Magic Leap 2 guide to configure MRTK to work with the MRTK Magic Leap 2 plugin.

Part 3: Taking Advantage of Magic Leap 2 Features​

Controller​

An often-overlooked input modality, the Controller offers interaction options beyond standard HandTracking. Usage of a Controller in an AR application can lead to better end-user comfort over a longer period of time, eliminating the fatigue of a typical hand-tracking-exclusive application.

Expanded Field of View​

With an increased horizontal and vastly-expanded vertical field of view, an AR app benefits by being able to see human-sized virtual content from just a few feet away. Moving from the Hololens 2 to a Magic Leap 2, the difference will be noticeable immediately.

Compute power​

The Magic Leap 2 uses an x86_64-based architecture, with processors that are able to compute far more complex geometry, shaders, and textures at smoother framerates than previous-generation AR devices.

Further resources​