Issue category: VPS / Location AR (Real-World Location AR)
Device type & OS version: Meta Quest 3 (Quest OS version: v83.1028)
Host machine & OS version: Windows 11 Pro (PC)
Issue Environment: Unity (Build to Quest 3), Lightship ARDK Location AR
ARDK version: Lightship ARDK 3.17 (Unity)
Unity version: Unity 6 (6000.0.58f2) (I also tried Unity 2022 LTS but had AR Foundation dependency issues)
Render pipeline: Built-in (not URP)
Description of the issue:
Hi everyone, I’m trying to use Real-World Locations Using Location AR on Meta Quest 3 following the official guide below, but I can’t get the real-world camera / passthrough or localization view working.
I followed the setup (ARLocationManager + ARLocation + Manifest assignment) and built to Quest 3 successfully, but inside Quest 3 I only see a blank/white space (not real-world passthrough).
Because of that, I can’t confirm if VPS localization is working, and the content appears like it’s in a VR blank environment.
VPS spot I want to use:
Toyosu area (Koto City, Tokyo) — “Kodai” sculpture spot
(3 Chome-5 Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo 135-0061, Japan)
Current goal:
First I want to confirm a simple cube can be anchored correctly after localization.
My final goal is to overlay a building model (PLATEAU / CityGML-based model) at the real-world location once VPS localization works.
What I tried:
Completed Lightship setup, entered API Key in Project Settings > Niantic Lightship SDK
XR Plug-in Management configured for Quest 3 / OpenXR
Built & ran on Quest 3 successfully (app launches)
But the camera view is not passthrough and shows only a white/blank environment
Questions:
For Quest 3, should Location AR / VPS localization show passthrough camera by default?
Are there additional required settings specifically for Quest 3 (OpenXR feature groups, camera permissions, graphics API, etc.) that are not obvious from the guide?
Is there a known limitation/requirement for running Real-World Location AR on Quest 3 compared to mobile (ARCore/ARKit)?
Attachments I can provide:
Screenshots of:
XR Plug-in Management settings
OpenXR feature groups (Meta Quest / Meta XR / Lightship support for Meta Quest)
Scene hierarchy (AR Session + XR Origin + ARLocationManager + ARLocation)
Unity Console logs and Android Logcat from Quest 3
Check the Camera (①) Background (②) settings—is it set to a solid color? You likely need to change it to Transparent (③).
For reference, take a look at the XR Rig in the Niantic Lightship Meta Plugin. You might want to try swapping your XR Rig with the one found here: Packages/Niantic Lightship Meta Plugin/Assets/Prefab/XR Rig
Thank you for your quick reply and the clear screenshots — they were very helpful.
I tried the two suggestions:
Changed the Main Camera Background/Clear Flags from Solid Color to Transparent
Swapped my rig to the one in Packages/Niantic Lightship Meta Plugin/Assets/Prefab/XR Rig
After doing that, the app no longer shows the white background, but now it becomes a completely black screen when running on Meta Quest 3.
Do you have any advice on what I should check next to get the passthrough / camera feed working correctly?
If there are any specific settings or components that commonly cause a black screen with Location AR on Quest (e.g., OpenXR features, Passthrough/AR Camera Background, camera permissions, render pipeline settings), please let me know and I can test them.
It looks like the app might not have permission to access the Quest’s camera. A popup asking for camera access should appear when you launch the app for the first time. Did you allow it when it popped up?
I suggest deleting the app and reinstalling it. This should trigger the permission popup again. Please try allowing camera access then and see if the passthrough works correctly.
When I launch the app, a popup asking for camera access does appear, as shown in the image above, and I did allow the permission. However, even after allowing camera access, the passthrough view remains completely black.
I also tried deleting and reinstalling the app to re-trigger the permission popup, but the result is the same — the screen is still black.
If you have any other ideas or things I should check (e.g., project settings, OpenXR features, or specific permissions for Quest 3), I would really appreciate your advice.
Also, please open Project Settings(①) and check if there are any errors under XR Plug-in Management(②) > Project Validation(③). If you see anything relevant, click the “Fix” button to see if it resolves the issue.
In addition, please double-check that the Alpha value of the Main Camera’s Background is set to 0.
These are all the ideas I have for now.
While it doesn’t directly fix your current project, it might be helpful to run a sample scene to see if it works correctly in your environment. You can import the samples by opening the Package Manager (④), selecting the Niantic Lightship Meta Plugin (⑤), and then clicking Import (⑥) under the Samples tab (⑦). This sample also includes VPS.
If something has become corrupted, rebuilding the project from scratch could be another option. I’ve just written an article summarizing the setup steps, so please feel free to refer to it: [URL](Japanese only)
