Hand tracking via the SteamVR Skeletal Input technology is now supported by default in the open beta version of VRChat for PCs.

Hand tracking has been supported by the standalone app VRChat on the Quest Store since late 2022. Of course, using a gaming PC to use VRChat is the ideal option. You get access to PC-only avatars and worlds that are significantly better than those available for mobile devices, as well as higher-quality versions of most avatars and planets.

The new open beta version of VRChat

With the latest open beta version of VRChat, you can now use hand tracking on a PC, including the finger gesture technology initially created for Quest.

In the past, hand tracking could be used to simulate Valve Index controllers on a PC, but full finger movements were not possible.

Because VRChat does not yet support OpenXR, you must use software that allows hand tracking to be forwarded to SteamVR Skeletal Input to use hand tracking on a PC.

With the latest Virtual Desktop beta, you can do this if you have a Meta Quest headset. You can use ALVR if you have an Apple Vision Pro. You can also use the Leap Motion 2 addon's open-source SteamVR driver with any native PC VR headset.

However, Guy Godin, the developer of Virtual Desktop, reveals that his app's current support for this is still in the experimental beta phase and that he does not believe it is stable enough for daily use.

>> You can read all the updates to the new VRChat release here <<

With this ability to track hands, expressiveness should increase significantly and the number of gestural signs that can be signed could increase. Combined with the body, face and eye tracking capabilities of the platform, VRChat currently (at least in beta) offers a deeper sense of social immersion than almost any other commercially available technology.