Step-by-Step Custom XR Keyboards with Meta SDK Tutorial [QUEST/UNITY VR]
In this step-by-step tutorial, you’ll learn how to integrate a fully interactive virtual keyboard into your VR/AR project using the MRTK NonNativeKeyboard—even though it wasn’t originally designed for the Meta SDK. If you’ve struggled with Meta’s built-in keyboard (positioning issues, activation bugs, UI raycasting not working, etc.), this tutorial shows you exactly how to fix it with clean, reliable interaction using Meta’s own SDK for your own purposes.
We’ll walk through how to:
✔️ Use the Meta All-In-One SDK to quickly set up hand-tracking ray interactions
✔️ Convert third-party keyboards (like MRTK’s) into fully pointable, ray-interactable canvases
✔️ Create input fields that trigger the keyboard automatically
✔️ Add collider-based interaction surfaces using Meta’s PointableCanvas + RayInteractable system
✔️ Subscribe to MRTK keyboard events in C# so you can capture text and build real UI workflows (chat windows, login screens, search bars, naming systems, etc.)
✔️ Understand how Meta’s UI interaction components actually work (PointableCanvasModule, ColliderSurface, RayInteractable, etc.)
Whether you're building a VR productivity tool, XR UI system, in-game terminal, or login interface, this guide gives you a robust workflow for virtual typing with hands or controllers.
🔥 In this video, you’ll learn:
How to add a third-party virtual keyboard (MRTK NonNativeKeyboard) into any XR scene. How to make UI elements interactable using Meta Interaction SDK components. How ray interactions work with canvases (PointableCanvas, RayInteractable, SurfaceCollider, etc.) How to set up TextMeshPro input fields that open the keyboard automatically. How to write a clean C# event handler (VirtualKeyboard_Handler) that listens to keyboard updates and submissions. And tips for correctly scaling and positioning UI in world space.
📌 Prerequisites
Unity 2022.x (URP or Standard Renderer both work)
Meta All-In-One SDK installed
MRTK Virtual Keyboard (NonNativeKeyboard prefab) -- I'll show you where to find it and how to install it.
Timeline
0:00 – Intro: Why not use the built-in Meta keyboard? And prerequisites.
0:58 – Downloading the MRTK Virtual Keyboard from GitHub
1:35 – Setting up the scene using Meta SDK building blocks and understanding why it’s useful.
2:22 – Understanding keyboards and initial settings
3:02 – Integrating the Keyboard with the Meta SDK and how it works; Making it a pointable canvas.
3:55 – Adding EventSystem + PointableCanvasModule
4:17 – Adding SurfaceCollider for ray interaction zones
5:50 – Initial testing
6:04 –Enabling keyboard on input (“OnSelect”)
10:04 – Understanding how selecting keys executes events
10:48 – Writing the VirtualKeyboard_Handler script
16:06 – Review
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If you want to see another strategy and also a method for how to position the keyboard relative to the player, you should also watch the second half of Valem's keyboard tutorial, it's great! • How to Make a VR Keyboard in Unity - Poke ...