At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Razer began converting some of their manufacturing facilities into face masks for frontline workers. To date, they have donated over a million face masks to hospitals, governments and other health organizations worldwide, but now Razer is putting its own spin on this now vital part of our lives with their Project Hazel concept. Also called the world’s smartest face mask, Project Hazel has a clear, transparent design with a built-in speech amplifier to make it easier to talk to people around you, and it will also clean and disinfect itself via UV lights in its special charging box. Why does a face mask need a charging box I hear you ask? Well, it has Razer Chroma RGBs built into it, isn’t it?
Yes, you read that right. RGBs in a face mask.
Don’t let those rainbow circles fool you though, as despite looking like something straight out of Metro 2033 or The Division 2, Project Hazel comes equipped with some serious anti-Covid tech. The first is the medical grade N95 respirator (or FFTP2 for the one in Europe), which blocks at least 95% of the particles in the air. This standard is widely used by health professionals, but while some more traditional N95 respirators are difficult to breath due to their ultra-tight fit and lack of ventilation, Razer Project Hazel has equipped with active detachable fans to regulate airflow. in the mask.
These fans and the mask itself can also be disinfected by simply placing them in the charging box. This has four UV lights on the inside (two on the top, one on the back, and one on the front) that sterilize everything in it while the mask is charging, keeping you protected.
Project Hazel doesn’t stop there either, as it also has a built-in microphone and Razer’s VoiceAmp technology, which is patent-pending, to make your speech sound clearer and less muffled. Combine that with its clear and transparent design that really shows you if someone is smiling / angry at you (which also has built-in white LEDs to illuminate your face in low light, I might add), and that shouldn’t have to resort take to big, emphatic hand gestures just to say, “Please get away from me.”
Razer doesn’t have an exact price or release date for Project Hazel just yet, but it will certainly be here much earlier than their other recently announced CES concept product, Project Brooklyn. Razer has told me they already have a working prototype, but as with all of their concept ideas, they will be making further tweaks and optimizations in the coming weeks and months to make sure it meets all the necessary safety standards without compromising on comfort. or usability.