Face masks are now a part of our daily lives, but most of us wear a simple cloth or disposable mask when we venture out to the store. Razer unveiled its take on a smart mask back at CES in January. It was just a prototype called Project Hazel, but now Hazel is becoming a reality.
As Yahoo News reports, Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan confirmed during an interview with Yahoo Finance that Project Hazel is going to ship. It follows Razer’s commitment last year to manufacture face masks using existing production facilities and even offer them through vending machines in Singapore. Then the company started researching “the very best mask” and came up with Project Hazel.
“We were thinking, this is a concept project and is this going to be relevant when vaccinations and everything has been rolled out. I think moving forward we decided — and I can tell you now — we are going to proceed in making it a reality and ship the smart mask,” Tan explained. “We’ve realized that even with vaccinations we are hearing you still have to be masked up because there is still the risk factor that even if you’re vaccinated you still need to be incredibly careful.”
Project Hazel is no ordinary mask. It uses N95 medical grade respirators and “Smart Pods” designed to regulate air flow and filter out airborne germs. The ventilators, which hold a day’s worth of charge, can be removed and recharged in a provided wireless fast charging box that also doubles as a UV light box for killing all germs.
Add to that transparent plastic allowing people to see when you laugh or smile, Razer VoiceAmp Technology relying on built-in microphones to amplify and enhance your voice, and interior lighting to illuminate your lower face when it’s dark. And of course, there’s RGB lighting on the exterior of the mask. The only things missing are a release date and price, but it certainly won’t be cheap, especially compared to cloth masks.
