Razer’s Project Sophia concept turns your desk into a modular computer

Razer is no stranger to wild CES prototypes, and CES 2022 is no exception: the business revealed its new Challenge Sophia concept, which aims to create an entire modular desktop computer into a desk that seems like a Star Trek LCARS console arrive to life.

Razer has experienced modular computer system aspirations before. There was 2014’s Venture Christine, a precursor to Venture Sophia that imagined a desktop tower that was crafted out of very easily swappable Jenga-like bricks. 2020’s Tomahawk took a far more practical technique to that concept, based mostly on Intel’s Component NUC patterns.

But Venture Sophia feels like Razer’s conceptual tendencies turned to 11. The desk is intended to attribute 13 different swappable module slots, in which users can add in a huge array of distinct items: temperature readouts, touchscreen software launchers, dedicated chat and calendar displays, wireless Qi chargers, a mug heater, pen tablets, audio mixers, CPU and GPU displays, and far more. Razer imagines that the modular character of its pc desk would make it possible for customers to personalize it to their precise requirements and use situations. A streamer, for illustration, would be equipped to simply snap on additional effective speakers, microphones, and cameras for streaming, with added displays to watch their followers chatting, while a movie editor could include sound mixing and enhancing modules for concentrating on operate.

As for the real “PC” component, Razer’s idea imagines that created into the desk, far too, in a custom-designed, magnetically attached chassis that can be easily taken off so that buyers can swap out elements when they get a new CPU or GPU. The full issue is hooked up to a substantial OLED panel (both 65-inch or 77-inch) to exhibit your video games in the best doable top quality. And of study course, there’s a good deal of Razer’s RGB Chroma lighting — it’s even now a gaming Laptop, right after all, even if it appears to be like like a desk.

Of study course, Razer’s background of flashy CES prototypes has normally been just that: a collection of fanciful, one-off initiatives proven off per year as an instance of the possible of long run gaming PCs or equipment which nearly never ever turn into serious goods. And seeking at the flashy Undertaking Sophia renders, it is tough to imagine any other destiny for the notion than Razer’s merchandise graveyard together with previous showcases like 2014’s modular Challenge Christine, 2017’s triple-screened Project Valerie, or 2018’s phone-docking Task Linda.

Modular computing devices are tough. Even the reasonably standardized entire world of standard Computer system making is rife with diverse specs for SSDs, motherboard sockets, and RAM. Proprietary devices are even more challenging — recall Google’s sick-fated modular Ara smartphone undertaking? The only way something like Undertaking Sophia would exist is if Razer is keen to develop all the modules and accessories itself. And even if it is ready to do that, it is challenging to visualize that the price would be nearly anything significantly less than astronomical, in particular when as opposed to the beautifully functional option of “buying normal components and possessing them sit on a usual desk.”

Nonetheless, as is the circumstance with most of Razer’s CES principles, it’s nevertheless neat to see that the company is inclined to check out fanciful suggestions like the futuristic Challenge Sophia desk. Even in the probable situation that the laptop or computer-desk thought under no circumstances sees the commercial light-weight of day, it exhibits that Razer is even now prepared to believe outdoors the box when it will come to new types and strategies. And who appreciates? Possibly the long term of computing truly is crafted into a desk.