In Unreal 5.2 we changed the way the LiveLinkXR plugin receives its tracking data from VR hardware by switching to OpenXR as the VR runtime provider. This course was taken as part of a wider effort to narrow the codebase required for supporting VR across Unreal Engine.
Since then, and in subsequent releases we’ve received feedback that the User Experience for LiveLinkXR had regressed.
Parallel to this, we have been developing the Live Link Hub application - its intended purpose, to make animation streaming easier, more configurable and also to work with UEFN.
In UE 5.5 we have chosen to make a new Plugin that will improve the user experience for users of LiveLinkXR.
This new plugin is called “LiveLinkOpenVR”.
On the surface the interface is exactly the same as LiveLinkXR. The main difference is it only works with the SteamVR runtime.
It supports VR tracking in multiple applications at the same time - meaning you can use, for example, Live Link Hub for tracking and still render to your headset with UE. This has great potential for digital puppetry workflows and indie mocap. LiveLinkOpenVR works with Live Link Hub, so you can now stream VR tracking into UEFN too.
We will continue working towards providing the same functionality with OpenXR, which will make it possible to use any OpenXR runtime for Live Link and Live Link Hub.