Razer Project Carol is a gaming chair with inbuilt surround sound and haptics

Gaming concepts are always fun; they take something known and add all manner of RGB-lit bells and whistles, and Razer's Project Carol is no different. It's a head cushion for a gaming chair sporting a well-worn physical design, but inbuilt speakers, haptics, and wireless audio streaming add a new layer.

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Project Carol's "near-field surround sound" isn't simply two speakers but actual surround speakers that will benefit from a complete setup. So instead of running cables and finding a spot to set up rear speakers for true 5.1 or 7.1 surround, Project Carol's wireless head-cushion audio will provide that extra surround sound immersion similar to a traditional home theatre setup.

The audio is streamed wirelessly over a 2.4 GHz connection, battery life supports 8 hours of streaming, and a single USB-C link handles charging.

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And with that, if this head cushion for gaming chairs makes it to market, it will need to be paired with Razer or other speakers to work properly. Razer notes that Project Carol "works perfectly with any PC capable of 7.1 surround sound output" with no additional software required. And as it's a head cushion and not a full gaming chair, it has been designed to be compatible with all significant gaming chair models and brands.

On top of that, there's also haptic feedback. Adding head cushion haptics using Razer's HyperSense technology is fascinating. However, you'd have to think that having a head cushion that rumbles like an Xbox or DualSense controller would come down to personal preference.