Hand Tracking Gestures

Captic supports controller-free movement and interaction on WebXR headsets with hand tracking. The left hand walks and opens the menu. The right hand points, clicks, turns and teleports.

Before you start

1. Enable hand tracking on your headset.
2. Open Captic in the headset browser and enter VR.
3. Put the physical controllers down so the WebXR session can detect your hands.
4. Keep your hands visible to the headset cameras.

tip

Good room lighting and a clear view of your fingers improve gesture recognition.

Gesture reference

Hand	Gesture	Action
Left	Make a loose fist and rest the thumb on the side of the index finger	Engage the thumb stick
Left	Slide the thumb forward, toward the big knuckle	Walk forward (push further to run)
Left	Slide the thumb back, toward the curled fingertip	Walk backward
Left	Move the thumb sideways across the finger	Strafe left or right
Left	Lift the thumb off the finger or open the hand	Stop
Left	Turn the palm toward you and pinch the index finger and thumb	Open or close the settings panel
Right	Raise the hand in front of you, palm away from your face	Show the pointer ray
Right	Pinch the index finger and thumb while pointing	Click the item under the cursor
Right	Curl all four fingers, then move the thumb left or right	Snap-turn left or right
Right	Curl all four fingers, then press the thumb onto them	Click or activate the selected item
Right	Thumb swipe forward (microgestures)	Aim a teleport
Right	Thumb tap (microgestures)	Teleport to the target
Right	Thumb swipe backward (microgestures)	Cancel the teleport
Right	Thumb swipe left or right (microgestures)	Snap-turn left or right

Walk with the left thumb

The left thumb works like an analog stick:

1. Curl the middle, ring and little fingers into a loose fist.
2. Rest the tip of your thumb on the side of your index finger. Hold the pose briefly. A small ring with a dot appears where the thumb rests: that spot is the stick's center.
3. Slide the thumb from the center:
   • forward, toward the big knuckle at the front of the fist, to walk forward
   • back, toward the fingertip curled in at the palm, to walk backward
   • sideways across the finger to strafe
4. To stop, lift the thumb off the finger, open your hand, or move the thumb back to the center.

The further you slide, the faster you move, and diagonals work too. Push far forward to run: the dot turns orange. Small thumb movements around the center are ignored.

Turning your wrist does not steer. Movement follows the direction you are looking, like a gamepad stick.

Movement directions

Thumb movement from the center	Player movement
Forward, toward the big knuckle	Forward (run when pushed far)
Back, toward the curled fingertip	Backward
Sideways across the finger	Strafe left or right

Open the menu with the left hand

Turn your left palm toward you and pinch your thumb and index finger. This is the headset's own menu gesture: the headset shows its menu icon, and Captic opens or closes the in-VR settings panel. Point at the panel with your right hand and pinch to use it.

Point and click with the right hand

1. Raise your right hand in front of you with the palm turned away from your face. A pointer ray appears from between your thumb and index finger.
2. Aim the ray at a button, panel or interactive object. The cursor shows where it hits.
3. Pinch your index finger and thumb to click.

While a 3D panel or dialog is open, the ray only finds the panel's controls. Otherwise it finds items you can click or grab in the world, not walls and floors. When your hand is lowered or turned toward you, there is no ray and a pinch clicks nothing.

Turn and click with the right-hand control pose

1. Curl all four fingers of the right hand toward the palm.
2. Keep the palm from facing directly away from you, and hold the pose briefly.
3. Then:
   • move the thumb left or right to snap-turn
   • press the thumb onto the curled index or middle finger to click or activate the selected item

The control pose is switched off when the browser supports thumb microgestures (see below).

Teleport with right-hand microgestures

Quest Browser 38.1 and later recognizes Meta's thumb microgestures: swipes and taps of the thumb along the side of the index finger. When the browser reports them, the right hand uses them instead of the control pose:

1. Swipe the thumb forward to show the teleport arc.
2. Aim the arc at a walkable surface.
3. Tap the thumb on the index finger to teleport.
4. Swipe the thumb backward to cancel without moving.

Swipe the thumb left or right to snap-turn.

The teleport arc accepts only walkable navigation areas. Releasing over an invalid target closes the arc without moving you.

note

Without microgestures there is no hand teleport. Walk with the left thumb, or use the physical controller's teleport button when controllers are active.

Troubleshooting

Hand tracking does not start

• Confirm hand tracking is enabled in the headset settings.
• Put down the physical controllers.
• Keep both hands in front of the headset until they appear.
• Improve the room lighting and make sure your fingers are not hidden.

The left thumb does not move the player

• Curl the middle, ring and little fingers fully before resting the thumb.
• Rest the thumb tip on the side of the index finger and hold the pose briefly until the ring appears.
• Slide the thumb a little further from the center.
• If tracking was interrupted, open the hand and make the fist again.

Movement stops unexpectedly

Movement stops when the thumb is lifted off the finger, the hand opens, or the left hand is no longer tracked. Bring the hand back into view and make the fist again.

The pointer ray does not appear

• Raise the right hand in front of you, away from your body.
• Turn the palm away from your face.

The teleport arc does not appear

• Teleport needs thumb microgestures (Quest Browser 38.1 or later).
• Swipe the thumb forward along the side of the index finger.

Teleport does not move the player

Aim at a walkable surface. Objects and terrain without navigation support are not valid teleport targets.