Razer has officially announced its acquisition of Interhaptics, a.k.a. Go Touch VR SAS, a company well known for its haptic feedback products.
Razer has developed products with Interhaptics before, including the Nari Ultimate headphones back in 2018 and even a haptic gaming chair called the Enki Pro HyperSense. And in the press release announcing the acquisition, Razer stated that Interhaptics would remain independent but closely meld with Razer’s ecosystem.
Interhaptics has developed for a wide range of gaming platforms like PCs, consoles, mobile devices, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. One of its most well-known VR products is the Sense Glove, which simulates touch and interaction with virtual objects by giving physical feedback.
Analysis: Could a haptic feedback gaming chair take off?
Razer debuted the Enki Pro HyperSense, a gaming chair that uses haptic feedback, during CES 2022. At the time it sounded like a cool, if not “out there” concept, but it could genuinely provide gamers with an interesting and incredibly immersive experience.
Haptic feedback is already used effectively in many products for virtual reality, including the Sense Glove and controllers paired with VR devices. Imagine taking that same experience and applying it to something that makes contact with a significant portion of your body.
Racing games automatically come to mind, as you could feel like you’re inside a race car while the chair simulates the vibrations and sudden bumps from driving, or even the disorientation and tumbling around in a much less intense version of a car crash.
There is a multitude of other games that could make excellent use of the range of vibrations, textures, and motions that a haptic engine would be able to simulate. And with Razer officially acquiring the company that helped create the concept in the first place, we might actually see this come to life in the near future.
If you can't wait for a next-gen haptics gaming chair, you might want to look at the best of the current gaming chair market.
