Razer demonstrated its HyperSense haptics technology on a gaming chair, wrist rest, mouse and gaming headset, which combined to give us a full-body haptics experience.
LAS VEGAS - Imagine playing your favorite shooter and feeling the rumble of every gunshot, footstep and explosion across your entire body. That’s what Razer is aiming to make possible with its new Hypersense technology.
First launched on the new Razer Nari Ultimate headset, Hypersense is a haptics technology that creates vibrations based on the intensity and direction of in-game sounds. At CES 2019, Razer demonstrated how the tech can work across a variety of gaming peripherals, including a wrist rest, mouse and gaming chair. I tested Razer’s haptics setup across multiple games, and came away very impressed (and shaken) by the full-body experience it provided.
When playing Overwatch, I could feel Pharah’s footsteps on my wrist as I walked, and felt the rumble of her rocket launcher on my mouse every time I fired a shot. I especially enjoyed the gentle vibration I felt on my back every time I hovered in the air using her jet pack.
But that was just an appetizer — Hypersense really shone when tearing through the ultra violent action of Doom. The pulverizing soundtrack alone sent big pulsing vibrations down my back, which pumped me up as I gleefully jumped around with my rocket launcher and ripped the heads off of demons.
While we had mixed results with Hypersense when reviewing the Nari headset, I enjoyed the technology a lot more when using it with a full haptic setup. Just like Razer’s Chroma lighting, you’ll be able to tweak Hypersense to your liking via Razer’s Synapse software. And while the technology will work out of the box with any media you play on your PC, Razer is also opening the door for developers to program their own haptic patters for their games.
Razer Hypersense has the potential to make gaming even more immersive, especially if it makes its way to more gadgets beyond the Nari headset. The company doesn’t have an estimate yet on when that might happen, but we’re excited to slay more demons while enjoying full-body vibrations once it does.
Mike Andronico is Senior Writer at CNNUnderscored. He was formerly Managing Editor at Tom's Guide, where he wrote extensively on gaming, as well as running the show on the news front. When not at work, you can usually catch him playing Street Fighter, devouring Twitch streams and trying to convince people that Hawkeye is the best Avenger.
