Unity Input System

The Unity Input System supports a wide variety of input devices, each requiring specific handling for its unique features (e.g., touchscreen touches or keyboard text input). You can configure and respond to these devices using the Actions Editor window or via scripting.

Key device categories include:

• Pointer devices: Mice, pens, or other devices tracking input on a 2D surface.
• Keyboards: Devices using a set of key controls.
• Joysticks: Devices with at least one input stick and one button.
• Gamepads: Devices featuring a D-pad and four face buttons.
• Sensors: Devices measuring environmental input.
• HID (Human Interface Device): Peripheral devices connected via USB or Bluetooth following the HID specification.

The Input Actions Editor is the primary tool for defining how user input is interpreted in your project. You can use it to:

• Create Action Maps: Group related actions together (e.g., 'Player', 'UI', or 'Driving').
• Configure Actions: Define the logical intent (e.g., 'Jump', 'Move', 'Fire').
• Configure Bindings: Map specific physical controls (like a button press or axis movement) to actions.
• Connect Controls: Link specific devices to your bindings.
• Assign Interactions and Processors: Add logic to how inputs are handled, such as tap/hold interactions or deadzones for analog sticks.

The Sensor API allows you to measure environmental characteristics of the device running your application. You can use it to retrieve data such as device speed, orientation, or ambient temperature.

To implement sensor functionality, you should follow these steps:

1. Configure sensors: Set up the sensors to capture specific environmental information.
2. Query sensors in code: Access the real-time data from the sensors connected to your application.
3. Reference supported types: Check the supported sensor types to ensure the hardware you are targeting is compatible with the Input System.

The Unity Input System provides specialized support for gamepads, defined as devices typically featuring two thumbsticks, a D-pad, four face buttons, two shoulder buttons, and two triggers.

Depending on your requirements, you can use the following workflows:

• General Configuration: Use the standard gamepad introduction to set up devices with D-pads and face buttons.
• Platform-Specific Configuration: Follow specific guides for PlayStation, Switch, or Xbox gamepads to ensure correct button mapping and features.
• Programmatic Access: Use code to query connected gamepads, poll input on a frame-by-frame basis, or control haptics (rumble/motors).
• Integration: Combine gamepad support with the Player Input component and Control Schemes to manage multiple device types seamlessly.

The Visualizers sample provides two primary components for real-time monitoring of input states:

• InputControlVisualizer: Used to monitor the state of individual InputControl elements.
• InputActionVisualizer: Used to monitor the state of InputAction elements.

Refer to the specific documentation for InputControlVisualizer and InputActionVisualizer for detailed usage instructions.

Compatibility between the Input System and Unity's UI solutions depends on the UI system used and the Unity version.

Note: For UI Toolkit (2023.2+), UI actions defined in project-wide actions map directly to UI Toolkit input.

The InputDevice class is the base class for all devices in the Input System. You can use it to interact with hardware or software-simulated devices.

Depending on your goal, you may need different approaches:

• Reading values: If you only need to get a device reference and read control values, use the Read devices directly workflow.
• Advanced Scripting: For managing device lifecycles, matching descriptions to layouts, or sending commands, use the specialized scripting APIs described in the device scripting documentation.