Creating Custom Unity Editor Tools for VR Graphics

When developing VR applications in Unity, the standard Editor lacks tools for controlling specific metrics: Draw Call budget per-eye, asset validation against Oculus VRC requirements, and poly count checking with Multiview enabled. Manually opening the Frame Debugger and counting every time is a waste of time. Our team, with over 5 years of VR development experience, creates custom Editor Tools that automate these processes and accelerate the pipeline multiple times. Order custom tool development for your project — we'll evaluate the task within 1–2 days.

Problems with Standard Tools for VR

VR has strict FPS budgets (72–90 fps) and specific rendering requirements: multivew, tile-based rendering, fixed FOV. The standard Inspector does not show triangle count per-eye, and LOD Group calculates switching based on screen percentage without considering IPD and HMD resolution. This is where custom tools provide a speed boost.

What Tools a VR Team Really Needs

The most in-demand class is Asset Validator. VRC Guideline for Oculus requires: character mesh no more than 70,000 triangles, textures no larger than 2048x2048, all materials using standard shaders without Tessellation. Manually checking every asset in a team of 5+ is impossible. An Editor Window using AssetDatabase.FindAssets() + AssetImporter scans the entire folder in seconds and lists violators with quick navigation.

The second tool is Scene Complexity Dashboard. Right in the Scene View it shows current Draw Call count, number of Shadow Casters, and material statistics. Implemented via EditorWindow + SceneView.duringSceneGui delegate + UnityEditor.Handles for overlays. It updates on any hierarchy change through EditorApplication.hierarchyChanged.

The third is LOD Preview Tool. The standard LOD Group Inspector shows switching as a percentage of screen, but in VR LOD distances depend on IPD, FOV, and HMD resolution. A custom tool recalculates LOD transitions into real meters for the target device (Quest 3: 96°, 2064x2208 per eye) and shows what the player will actually see at distances of 1, 3, 10 meters.

How Custom Tools Speed Up Asset Review

From practice: in an architectural VR visualization project, the team spent 40 minutes on each asset review from 3D artists — checking poly count, UV layout, and import settings. After implementing Asset Validator + AssetPostprocessor, this dropped to 5 minutes: the tool immediately highlights issues and automatically applies standard settings. That's 8x faster — a comparison that confirms automation effectiveness.

According to the Oculus VR Best Practices Guide, correct asset import settings are critical for performance. Custom tools ensure compliance without manual checks.

Technical Implementation Details

Unity Editor API provides several levels of customization:

• EditorWindow — independent window with any GUI. For complex UIs with tables and filters, we use UI Toolkit (recommended from Unity 2022 LTS) — it uses virtualization and doesn't lag on lists of 500+ assets.
• Custom Inspector via [CustomEditor(typeof(MyComponent))] — extends the standard Inspector: adds buttons like "Validate FOV Settings", "Check IPD Range", "Preview at Quest 3 Resolution".
• SceneView Tools via EditorTool (from Unity 2019.1) — a custom tool for "VR Scale Reference": displays a 1.75m human figure next to any object for scale estimation.
• AssetPostprocessor — a hook on asset import: automatically applies needed settings to FBX.

For the shader pipeline, we build a ShaderGraph Validator: checks node compatibility with URP Mobile (no Screen Space, Tessellation, or GrabPass equivalents). Implemented via ShaderGraph.GraphData API.

public class AssetValidator : EditorWindow
{
    [MenuItem("Tools/Asset Validator")]
    public static void ShowWindow() => GetWindow<AssetValidator>();

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        if (GUILayout.Button("Validate All Models"))
        {
            string[] guids = AssetDatabase.FindAssets("t:Model");
            foreach (string guid in guids)
            {
                string path = AssetDatabase.GUIDToAssetPath(guid);
                ModelImporter importer = AssetImporter.GetAtPath(path) as ModelImporter;
                if (importer != null)
                {
                    // Check poly count, texture size, etc.
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Comparison of Standard vs Custom Tools

What's Included in Custom Tool Development

Our work delivers:

• Source code of tools as a Unity Package with asmdef files, documentation, and usage examples.
• Integration with your version control system and instructions for updating via Package Manager.
• Team training on using the tools and support during the adoption phase.
• Adaptation to your Unity version and project specifics (Oculus, SteamVR, Pico, HTC Vive).

Process Stages

1. Requirements gathering. Interview with the team to identify the most painful manual checks.
2. Prototype. Quick EditorWindow for the key task — feedback within 1–2 days.
3. Full implementation. UI Toolkit, Asset Database integration, AssetPostprocessor setup, documentation.
4. Packaging. Bundle into a Unity Package for versioning and distribution.

Our Expertise

Over 5 years of commercial VR project development on Unity (Quest, SteamVR, Pico). Dozens of custom tools implemented for studios and productions. We use modern Unity versions (2022 LTS and newer), UI Toolkit, and profiling via Profiler and RenderDoc. We guarantee the tools cover Oculus VRC requirements and pass store reviews.

Contact us to evaluate your project — we'll prepare a turnkey proposal within 1–2 days. Get a consultation on automating your pipeline.

VR and AR Development

When we first launch a project in a VR headset, most teams face the same thing: technically everything works, but in the headset either motion sickness occurs, or hands 'float' with a delay, or the scene looks jerky at the periphery. These are not bugs in the usual sense — they are a consequence of the fact that VR/AR development requires a different approach to render architecture, interaction, and UX from the very beginning of the project. Our experience: over 7 years in game dev, 15+ completed VR/AR projects for Meta Quest, SteamVR, PSVR2, HoloLens. We work with teams that need not just a prototype but a production‑ready application with a stable frame rate.

Platforms and SDKs

We work with all relevant stacks. We use OpenXR as the base layer wherever possible — it provides cross‑platform compatibility between Meta, Valve Index, HP Reverb and other PC VR devices. On top of OpenXR, we build on the XR Interaction Toolkit (Unity) or VR Expansion Plugin (Unreal). Contact us for a stack assessment tailored to your project.

How to minimize motion sickness in VR locomotion?

Locomotion — the main source of motion sickness for inexperienced VR users. According to research, about 70% of users experience discomfort with improper movement settings Oculus Developer Guidelines. Teleportation — standard navigation method when smooth movement is undesirable.

Components from XR Interaction Toolkit: TeleportationArea, TeleportationAnchor, TeleportationProvider. Basic implementation works out of the box, but for production we refine it in four steps:

1. Setting up XRRayInteractor with a curved ray (Bend Ray) — the teleportation arc looks more natural than a straight ray and is perceived better by users.
2. Adding a valid landing zone — a visual indicator changes color when hovering over an obstacle (red/green).
3. Implementing fade transition — smooth screen fade (black fade) before teleportation reduces disorientation.
4. Rotation snapping — after teleportation we offer snap rotation by 45° or 90° instead of smooth, reducing motion sickness risk.

For projects requiring smooth locomotion (action games, simulators), we use comfort settings: vignetting during movement, reducing FOV during acceleration. Settings are available to the user in the menu — different people have different sensitivity thresholds. The difference between kinematic and physics‑based movement: kinematic gives instant hand following but lets objects pass through walls; physics‑based via Joint provides realistic collisions but requires velocity damping and max joint force tuning. We choose based on the type of interaction.

How to make object grabbing in VR physically realistic?

This is the most underestimated part of VR development. Clients often perceive it as 'just hand animation', but in practice it is a complex system where physical correctness, responsiveness, and comfort conflict.

Grab (grabbing)

XR Interaction Toolkit provides three types of Interactable for grabbing:

• XRGrabInteractable — standard grab, object follows controller via physics joint or direct position/rotation
• XRSimpleInteractable — for objects without physical movement (buttons, levers)
• Custom Interactable by inheriting from XRBaseInteractable

Attach Transform — a frequently ignored detail. Each Interactable must have a properly configured Attach Transform (the point where the hand 'attaches'). Without it, the pistol grip will be at the center of the mesh, not where it is held.

For weapons and tools with two‑handed grab — a separate TwoHandGrab system: leading hand determines position, the second — orientation. XR Interaction Toolkit supports this via XRTwoHandGrabInteractable or custom logic with two Attach Points.

Throw (throwing)

Velocity smoothing is critical for realistic throwing because the Rigidbody.velocity at the moment of controller release reflects instantaneous speed, often incorrect due to tracking discretization. The user makes a quick wrist movement — but the object flies half as fast.

Solution: velocity smoothing over the last N frames (typically 5–10 frames, ~80–160 ms at 60 Hz) before release. XR Interaction Toolkit does this via VelocityEstimator. Additionally, we apply a velocity scaling multiplier — a small speed increase (1.2–1.5×) makes throws subjectively more satisfying. Angular velocity (for objects that should spin in flight) is also averaged similarly.

AR: Plane Tracking and Environment Interaction

AR adds a different class of problems — working with real, unpredictable environment. AR Foundation — a cross‑platform layer on top of ARKit and ARCore. Most basic features (plane detection, raycasting, image tracking, face tracking) are available through a unified API.

Plane Detection

ARPlaneManager detects horizontal and vertical planes. Practical nuances:

• Initialization takes time — the user must look around the room while the system builds a map. An explicit onboarding with instruction 'slowly move the camera across surfaces' is needed.
• Planes are unstable — their boundaries and position are updated as data accumulates. Objects placed on a plane need to be attached via parent to ARPlane, not to world coordinates.
• Plane merging — two detected floor segments may merge into one, moving the anchor. For critical anchors, use ARAnchor instead of direct attachment to the plane.

Image tracking (via ARTrackedImageManager) quality directly depends on the quality of reference images. Images with high detail frequency and contrasting edges (like a QR code but stylish) track more reliably than smooth logos. ARCore Geospatial API — for outdoor AR with real‑world coordinate binding (accuracy up to 10 cm in well‑mapped areas).

Optimization for VR: Frame Rate and Comfort

VR requires stable high frame rate. About 60% of development time in mobile VR goes to optimization, not functionality — retrofit costs twice as much as proper architecture from the first sprint.

Single Pass Instanced Rendering

The main render optimization in VR. Without it, the scene is rendered twice (once per eye), doubling draw calls. Single Pass Instanced renders both eyes in one pass via instancing: geometry is processed once, the shader gets two view/projection matrices through GPU instancing. Enabled in Unity via XR Plug-in Management > Rendering Mode: Single Pass Instanced. Important: custom shaders must support SPI — standard URP/HDRP shaders support it, custom HLSL requires modifications (UNITY_SETUP_STEREO_EYE_INDEX_POST_VERTEX and related macros). Applying this technique reduces draw calls by 40–50%, making it twice as efficient as naive double rendering.

Foveated Rendering

On Meta Quest, Fixed Foveated Rendering (FFR) is available — reducing resolution at the periphery where visual acuity is lower. Configured via OVRManager or Meta XR SDK:

OVRManager.fixedFoveatedRenderingLevel = OVRManager.FixedFoveatedRenderingLevel.High;
OVRManager.useDynamicFixedFoveatedRendering = true;

Dynamic FFR automatically increases the level when frame rate drops — more convenient than fixed in scenes with variable load.

IPD and Comfort Settings

IPD (Inter‑Pupillary Distance) — affects depth perception. At the programmable level on most devices, only reading IPD is available (OVRPlugin.GetSystemDisplayFrequency), physical adjustment is on the headset. For applications requiring precise positioning (medical simulators, training), we account for IPD in scene scale calculations.

Haptics

Haptic feedback — an underestimated tool. Even a simple vibration response when grabbing an object or hitting significantly increases the sense of presence. On average, integrating haptic patterns takes 30–80 hours per project.

XR Haptics via OpenXR:

var hapticImpulse = new UnityEngine.XR.HapticCapabilities();
InputDevice device = InputDevices.GetDeviceAtXRNode(XRNode.RightHand);
device.SendHapticImpulse(0, amplitude: 0.5f, duration: 0.1f);

For complex patterns (tactile 'texture' of a surface when touched, increasing vibration when drawing a bowstring) we use Meta Haptics Studio — allows designing haptic clips visually. This can reduce time spent on manual haptic tuning by about 30%.

What does VR/AR application development include?

When ordering a turnkey project, we provide the following deliverables:

• Architectural document with stack description, render logic, and interaction system
• Working prototype (MVP) for testing on target device
• Integration of necessary SDKs (Meta XR, OpenXR, AR Foundation, etc.)
• Optimization for target frequencies 72/90/120 Hz with draw call and FPS profiling
• Testing on physical hardware (Quest, SteamVR, HoloLens) with user involvement
• Full documentation for build, deployment, and support
• Training for the client's team (workshop on XR Toolkit)
• Warranty support for 1 month after delivery

What affects cost and timeline?

VR/AR projects are more expensive than regular games of similar scope. Iterations are slower — each fix must be tested in the headset, an emulator does not convey the real experience. Motion sickness forces reworking some conceptual decisions after the first playtest. Optimization takes a significant portion of time — for mobile VR (Quest) up to 60–70% of the cycle. For Quest projects, we start optimization from the first sprint. The cost of basic SDK integration (XR Interaction Toolkit) varies depending on the scope of custom Interactable. Typical budgets for a full Quest project range from $25,000 to $80,000 depending on complexity, number of custom interactions, and depth of optimization. Proper architectural planning from sprint one typically saves 40% on later rework compared to fixing performance bottlenecks retroactively.

Get a consultation on your project — we will assess the task, stack, and timelines. Order turnkey VR/AR application development with a guaranteed stable frame rate.