Razer announces Project Motoko: kind of like AI glasses but a gaming headset

Ah, CES. Half AI, a quarter prototypes that seem finetuned for a headline, and a quarter genuinely useful tech. With Project Motoko, Razer seems intent on hitting at least three quarters of that market.

Announced today, Project Motoko is a gaming headset with a Snapdragon chip that reportedly has AI computer vision and universal AI platform compatibility. With dual 3K 60 fps cameras, Razer says it could theoretically look at what's in front of you and use an AI model to take in data. It could then give gaming advice, tell you what's in front of you, or anything else you would traditionally use a chatbot for.

The first-person view means you can also stream or record video, much like the Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses. Razer tells us it comes with optical image stabilization, which should help with the whole 'two cameras strapped to the side of your head' thing. However, there's a less traditional use case here that is oh so Razer.

In the pre-presentation briefing I attended, I was informed that Project Motoko can be used to give advice for the game you are playing. How it manages to accurately identify the game, then use that data to give you context-specific advice, is anyone's guess, but it was part of the presentation nonetheless.

In fairness to this idea, Razer's headsets have been mighty comfortable as of late. In Dave's review of the Razer BlackShark V3, he said, "You're getting a gaming headset which feels comfortable even for the long haul." Still, I'd imagine many would pick a standard BlackShark and use their everyday phone, rather than commit to the full AI gaming headset.

With its ability to work with ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, and other major AI bots, Razer told us it could be used to "train the next generation of terminators". This line was, naturally, delivered with a cheeky smile, before moving on to the next thing.

There's also no word yet on battery life, and that's likely because this is simply a prototype, rather than a ready-to-market product.

CES tends to be full of prototypes from companies that may never see the light of day. They work as neat marketing for the brand (which my words naturally play into), though it's not impossible to think enough interest could bring such a project to life.

Last year, Razer unveiled a chair that could swap between being heated and being cooled, and though that idea is certainly interesting, we haven't heard a peep (or awkward creak that sounds suspiciously like a fart) since. Razer also said it plans on releasing a wearable of some kind in 2026 (which would presumably rival what Meta is working on, too).

Still, I can't quite decide if a smart gaming headset or smart glasses would be more awkward to let loose in the wild. One thing is true: Razer's future terminator will certainly look a bit dorky, if you ask me.