At the moment, Razer have modelled their HyperSense mouse and keyboard on their existing Basilisk and Blackwidow Elite peripherals.
Not only were the headset, mouse and wrist rest going full throttle against the game’s pumping, heavy-metal soundtrack, but the chair was also buzzing against my back as dozens of demons descended on me at once. Doom is one such game with HyperSense integration at the moment, and let me tell you, it’s pretty damn intense. It's pretty sophisticated even as an 'out of box' experience, but when developers do stick their oars in and tie specific game events, audio cues and specific mechanics to Razer's haptic motor system, the effect is utterly transformative. That’s what HyperSense is about – emphasising those short, sharp little audio cues as well as using a game’s positional audio data to create a full, 360 degree haptic experience.
Even the chair you sit on can play a role, as this started buzzing when I was getting shot in the back, as well as when I activated Pharah's jetpack. Imagine, if you will, a keyboard wrist rest that jolts in time with your footsteps as well as shots being fired from your left, and a mouse that pulses as you fire a rocket across the stage or get hit from the right. As such, this only offers a basic level of haptic feedback – what Razer call the 'out of the box' experience. Razer's HyperSense chair prototype lets you adjust the level of intensity of its whizz pops and fizz bangs.Īnother demo involved playing a bit of Overwatch, for example, which isn't calibrated for HyperSense yet. It’s as bonkers as it sounds, really, but man alive does it make for an interesting demo, especially when the game in question has been specifically tuned to make the most of it. Together, they form the mighty morphin' HyperSense experience, a home-based haptics system for the ultimate level of immersion.
Thankfully, you won’t be assaulted by gusts of foul-smelling air with HyperSense – I’ll leave that to the rather naff Whirlwind FX Vortex machine – but you will be shaken, stirred and everything in between thanks to the dozens of haptic motors Razer’s decided to cram in a bunch of their PC gaming peripherals, because why the hell not? They’ve done it with RGB lights with their Razer Chroma tech, so the only logical next step must be to do exactly the same thing with haptic motors or something. You know the ones, with the rumbly seats and stale whiff of smellovision every 30 seconds.
This was HyperSense Doom, and you simply haven’t experienced the true majesty of emptying a Super Shotgun into the hoofing great face of a hell demon until you’ve fired it with the full force of Razer's new haptic feedback system.Īnnounced earlier this week alongside their new Razer Raptor monitor, HyperSense is effectively Razer’s answer to 4D cinema. And let me tell you, readers, this what I played was not the Doom I remembered. "Sit down then," he said, "and put on these headphones." So I did. Why, yes, I do, I like it a lot and know it well, I replied. Before me stood a desk and chair like any ordinary PC set up (albeit one solely comprised of Razer products) and two grinning demo guides. When I walked into Razer's HyperSense room at their CES booth, I wasn’t really sure what to expect.