Rumble isn't just for console controllers anymore. At CES in Las Vegas today, Razer introduced its HyperSense ecosystem, which syncs peripherals and even gaming chairs to create a 360-degree tactile feedback sensation.
The setup that I tried included the Nari Ultimate headset that was released late last year, as well as a haptic mouse and keyboard wrist rest by Lofelt and a haptic chair from Subpac. The chair provided tactic sensation from behind, while the wrist rest simulated events coming from the sides. The headset goes for 360-degree vibrations.
I thought that the whole thing would feel like a gimmick, but it was legitimately cool. When I played as Pharah in Overwatch, I could feel her jetpacks from the chair. In Doom, when I jumped through a whole on the floor, my head thudded, thanks to the headset. In both games, guns made the mouse rumble, but not so much that it affected my aim.
Razer says that it is reaching out to developers for interest, so it may be a long time before we see a bunch of games that support HyperSense. It also may mean there will be a wait for more of these kinds of peripherals. Razer said there will eventually be software to control the intelligent haptics so you can increase or decrease the effect. That’s good, because I can’t imagine having my head vibrate that hard for more than an hour.
The big question is if gamers will decide that rumble provides the same advantage that surround sound and great peripherals offer, or appreciate it as much as lighting (such as Razer's successful Chroma lighting platform). For now, all we have are sparse details to go on.
HyperSense as a whole makes the Nari Ultimate headset make far more sense as a product. As a whole, it’s definitely immersive, but I imagine it will be a while until this hits the market.
