HandWalker

Project Overview

HandWalker reimagines parkour for virtual reality. Instead of using thumbsticks to move, you physically grab, climb, and swing through your environment using your real hands. The game transforms any real-world space into a parkour playground using Meta's Scene Understanding and Mesh API — your actual furniture, walls, and ceiling become climbable geometry.

Created for the XR Hack Cologne hackathon, HandWalker demonstrates the next generation of room-scale VR interaction.

Technical Implementation

• Meta Scene Understanding — Automated real-world mesh generation using the Quest 3's depth sensor, converting physical furniture and architecture into interactive climbing geometry
• Hand Tracking Locomotion — Custom locomotion system where grab strength, pull speed, and release timing determine momentum. No controllers needed — just your hands
• Physics-Based Movement — Realistic body physics with momentum conservation when swinging and leaping between handholds. The system tracks hand velocity at release to calculate trajectory
• Custom Level Editor — Users can place virtual handholds, jump pads, and obstacles on top of their real-world mesh, creating custom parkour courses in their own space
• Community Sharing — Level data is serialized and shareable, allowing friends to download and play each other's courses
• Performance Optimization — Dynamic mesh generation and real-time physics on standalone Quest 3 hardware at 72 FPS

Design Approach

The core insight was that VR parkour with thumbsticks feels wrong — movement should be physical. HandWalker's grab-and-pull locomotion system makes every climb feel earned. The design encourages players to look at their actual environment differently: "Can I reach that shelf? Is that lamp sturdy enough to swing from?"

The level editor was added because testing revealed that users loved exploring the parkour potential of their own homes. The editor is deliberately simple — place a few objects, test the route, share with a friend. Social competition drove significantly more engagement than the built-in levels.

Key Results & Impact

• XR Hack Cologne — Successful hackathon entry with working demo
• Innovative locomotion — Demonstrated hand-based parkour as a viable VR movement system
• Real-world interaction — Proved that Meta Scene Understanding can power compelling gameplay, not just utility
• Community features — Level editor and sharing system demonstrated social XR potential

Tech Stack