Razer's Project Motoko and Project Ava: The Tech of Tomorrow?

At CES 2026, you couldn't really turn your head without seeing AI. As someone who remains sceptical at best of the new technology, I found it hard to be interested by most of what I was being shown at the event. When I visited the Razer booth, however, I have to say I was intrigued by what the gaming hardware manufacturer had on offer. Outside of some powerful laptops, incredibly comfortable chairs, and the smooth peripherals you'd expect from Razer, I also got to glimpse some concepts that - in somewhat of a rare spin - are actually meant to be making it out of the concept stage and into our hands sometime this year. Those projects are Project Motoko and Project Ava.

We'll start with Ava, as it was revealed last year and you may be aware of it. Essentially, it's a little hologram in a tube you keep on your desk. It connects to a USB-C port and runs whatever AI chatbot you like, from Grok to ChatGPT, and uses that model to inform the reactions you'll hear from the projection in the tube. The hologram can take many forms, from Razer's own Kira and Zane models, as well as famous League of Legends pro Faker. There are plans for you to be able to introduce your own model to be projected via Ava as well, making it quite the customisable bit of kit.

Project Ava is basically a little desk buddy. I saw the Kira and Zane models advise us on weapon loadouts, gameplay styles, and more for some in-game help through studying the screen of the device it's plugged into, and Ava also has a camera to help with other matters, like picking out the perfect outfit and more. It's AI companionship, given a new form essentially, as rather than chat to Grok on your phone, you now have a small woman or man (although Zane is incredibly buff) to help you out. It's easy to see how this caters to a certain kind of audience, and while I couldn't help but get a bit of a flashback to the 2013 film Her when looking at Project Ava, this is little more than a bit of fun. Something you'd imagine featuring in a near-future piece of sci-fi, that makes AI feel a little bit exciting and a little bit scary because while it's nice soon everyone will have someone to talk to, Project Ava's companionship in a way also seems to play on that lonely gamer stereotype.

Still, as a novelty it's easy to argue that Project Ava looks pretty cool. The same can be said for Motoko, Razer's AI wearable. Rather than go for a pair of glasses like most AI wearable companies are opting for, Razer instead gives us a pair of headphones with cameras attached. These cameras scan our environment as we wear the headphones with a better POV visual and clarity that was surprisingly strong in the demo. As with Ava, you'll be able to use whatever AI chatbot you like in pair with Motoko, and this project is designed much more for everyday use rather than gaming-specific use cases.

In the demo we saw Motoko help a user translate a menu from Japanese to English, tell them a recipe they could make from some random ingredients in their fridge, and give them a 30-minute workout to keep fit. The demo video also showed a user interacting with a co-worker, and it told them to remind said co-worker of a recent promotion. While the long-term memory is interesting here, what I found more intriguing was the ability for Motoko to allow for conversation. I was old that Project Motoko will be able to lessen any audio you might be listening to when you enter conversations, which at least means you won't be shutting yourself off from the outside world as soon as you pop this AI wearable on.

I wore Motoko for a short while, and it has a pretty solid feel to it. Not too light, not too heavy. It's built from the Razer Barracuda, with some cameras implanted. With Razer's expertise in building gaming peripherals, you can see why they've opted for this approach. Motoko definitely feels like it has a lot of potential, but as with a lot of AI wearables, I'm concerned a high price point might make it a product only a few will be picking up. Release dates and price points for both Motoko and Ava will be made available later in the year.