Razer Project Carol head cushion builds surround sound right into your gaming chair

Razer teased its Project Carol Concept design at CES 2023. It’s the world’s first head cushion design with near-field surround sound and haptics.

The concept has already won several awards at CES 2023, including the Innovation award and Best of Show award, indicating its proof of concept has already made huge strides.

The design includes 7.1 surround sound and Razer’s HyperSense technology, in addition to real-time haptic feedback, which allows “gamers to feel everything behind them, placing them firmly in the middle of the action,” Razer said.

The cushion supports PC software and is designed to fit gaming chairs. It is in particular designed to fit Razer Iskur and Enki chairs with adjustable straps. It can provide up to 2.4 GHz wireless gaming connectivity before it needs charging.

The Project Carol design can fit all major brands of gaming chairs thanks to stretchy adjustable straps that can be fully extended from top and bottom to up to 350mm. The location of the cushion also allows for “realistic, high-fidelity tactile feedback” that can be heard from behind the player for a more immersive experience.

The cushion includes a dongle that provides up to eight hours of battery life via USB-C charging.

Razer admits that this is a niche product targeted at a select few. The actual product might also require additional software. Razer warns that the time it takes to set up the system makes it tedious and impractical for day-to-day use.

Some of the downsides to Project Carol include excess cables that might lead to messy setups, and there might be a need for additional speakers, as well as audio receivers or control boxes.

Razer has not shared any pricing or availability details for this product, as it is still in the concept phase. It does note that orders over $80 have free standard shipping in the US.

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