Smashit

Grab it, throw it, Smashit! Step into your own room and smash away the stress. Objects appear in front of you, begging to be thrown, shattered, crushed, and obliterate

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Inspiration

We started with a simple question: what if you could just break things… without any consequences? Inspired by the universal appeal of tactile destruction and the rising stress levels in a hyper-digital world, we built Smashit—a short, punchy Mixed Reality (MR) experience designed to help people blow off steam in their own living rooms.

It’s not about violence. It’s about release. You don’t need a high score or story arc—you need a plate, a wall, and your own hands.

What it does

Smashit turns your real-world environment into a smashing playground. Using passthrough on the Meta Quest 3, players interact with virtual objects as if they were truly in their space—no artificial background, no bulky menus. You simply:

  • Grab random objects (cups, bowls, TVs, statues…)
  • Smash them against surfaces
  • Watch them shatter, bounce, or explode—beautifully

It features:

  • Hand-tracked interactions
  • Physics-based collisions and destruction
  • Optional hammer tool
  • Gaussian-splatted high-res cultural objects (e.g. museum vases)
  • A 5–10 minute session design, perfect for short bursts of satisfaction

How we built it

  • Developed in Unity with Meta XR SDK v81+
  • Focused on Passthrough and Hands as core experience
  • Implemented object physics, grab-throw-release mechanics
  • Added fallback support for controllers
  • Gaussian Splatting objects prepared in Nerfstudio, imported via custom pipeline
  • Custom MR scene setup for passthrough visibility with depth cues
  • Layered responsive spatial audio + SFX for smashing feedback

Challenges we ran into

  • Making object release feel natural with hand-tracking (no stickiness, no slippage)
  • Preventing passthrough artifacts (e.g. white mesh triangles)
  • Handling play area loss when moving outside defined bounds (non-stationary play)
  • Optimizing Gaussian Splats for high-fidelity rendering without compromising FPS
  • Onboarding: making it clear that the start screen is smashable
  • Menu interaction inconsistencies between left-hand controller and hand-tracked gestures

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Fully playable MR prototype with hand interactions in under 5 weeks
  • Seamless passthrough integration
  • Smashable Gaussian Splatting object—one of the first of its kind
  • Emotional reactions from testers ("I didn’t know I needed this until I played it")

What we learned

  • Passthrough play in a real room has huge emotional impact—but must be intuitive
  • Gaussian Splatting in MR is a promising path to bring photorealistic art into games
  • Simplicity wins: no tutorial, no friction = faster fun
  • Users intuitively want to walk around—stationary boundaries break immersion
  • Most satisfying objects to smash: porcelain, screens, glass bottles, fake awards

What's next for Smashit

  • Multiplayer Mode – co-destruction with friends in your shared room
  • Themed editions: Smashit: Masterpieces – smash famous museum art (digitally) Smashit: Mom Mode – for exhausted parents to unwind in 10 minutes Daily Smash Ritual – a procedural new object to destroy each day UGC – allow users to upload objects they wish to smash Performance optimization for App Lab / Store release Partnerships with museums, mental health orgs, and brands

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