Relic for Quest 3 & 3S explores the idea of adding spatial effects that pop out from the frame of movies.
Traditional cinemas have tried gimmicks in the past to make films seem more immersive, from smellovision to thunderous bass shakers under the seats, but none have been as effective as a few minutes of Spider-Man feels on the Relic app.
So how does this all work? Relic says it uses specialized AI-driven tools to extend ordinary film scenes into spatially-aware visual experiences. Where standard media consumption ends at the TV, monitor or phone screen, Relic enhances immersion by adding synchronized 3D visuals and mixed reality elements into your surroundings. Think of it like special effects summoned straight from your favorite movie into your room.
“We realized that with AI, we can completely strip off all the complexity of a game engine and make XR content creation super simple without sacrificing quality. Relic will make game engines like Unity obsolete for XR storytelling,” Relic’s co-founder Khuzema Wala claims.
While these are still just early demos, each clip in the Relic app feels uniquely designed to highlight different cinematic styles, progressively becoming more visually striking as I moved through them.
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A favorite for me is the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse clip. The transition between flat cinema and immersive visuals here is instantly impressive. Comic book style flourishes jump off the screen as dynamic cartoon effects dart above furniture, while stylized buzzwords like “BAM!” and “POW!” materialize in mid-air. Watching a scene from this movie I had seen many times before feels even more visceral this way, almost like stepping inside the pages of a comic.
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Another jaw-dropping demo sees a scene from Harry Potter flood my living room with magic effects. Fire convincingly appeared and crackled inside my physical space while objects burst from the screen with animated synchronization to the events unfolding in the clip. It was easy to lose myself in the moment and wonder how deeply immersive full-length films could feel if similarly remastered by Relic’s engine.
Currently you can’t enhance anything you own and want to watch, making the app more of a sample of the concept than a full product. Right now, Relic still requires films be optimized ahead of time through the developer’s proprietary AI-enhanced creator software. There is a sign up form on Relic’s website for potential creators to be informed when the tools are ready to be released, which the company plans to do in October.
After seeing even these pre-produced examples of spatial entertainment, the Relic app has convinced me that there is massive potential ahead for mixed reality media consumption with specialized environmental effects. Haven Vu, co-founder and CTO of Relic had this to say while discussing the future of the tech:
“What you’ve seen is remastering of iconic 2D films and this is just one of the many form factors — we’ve created marketing activations, 6DoF brand demos and music videos. We see the world of media and entertainment on these wearables as being innately spatial. Imagine holograms sitting on your furniture, turning your living room into Hogwarts, or interacting with characters to alter a plot”.
