Razer and Lofelt will get us closer to Ready Player One with new haptic gaming accessories

The 2018 movie version of the novel Ready Player One depicted a future where people not only escape the real world with VR headsets, but also with accessories that made them feel they were interacting with a virtual world. It looks like we may be closer to that future than we thought.

During CES 2019, Razer announced a new generation of PC gaming accessories under its Razer Hypersense brand. Hypersense products offer gamers haptic-powered effects, based on sound cues, while playing their favorite PC games. All of these accessories are interconnected with each other, so players can feel when enemies on the screen attack from the front, from the sides, or their backs.

Razer first launched their Hypersense brand in 2018 with the release of the Razer Nari Ultimate headset, which gives gamers haptic rumbles based on audio cues from games. At CES 2019, Razer showed off prototypes of other upcoming Hypersense accessories, including a new gaming mouse (pictured above), a wrist-rest, and even a gaming chair. There’s no word on when these accessories will go on sale or how much they will cost.

Much of the technology developed for Razer Hypersense was developed by a company called Lofelt, and at CES 2019 the company showed off even more prototypes that used its haptic hardware, including PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch controllers, along with an Oculus VR headset. It will be interesting to see if this kind of tactile effects will become popular with gamers.