What you need to know
- Razer introduced its new Eracing Simulator concept at CES 2020.
- The rig gets about as close as you can to actually driving a car ... without actually driving a car.
- Razer hopes the Eracing Simulator will give racing esports a shot in the arm.
Of everything Razer has on display at CES 2020, one of the most impressive by far is its Eracing Simulator concept. Built by combining tech from several different companies, the Eracing Simulator concept is billed as a vision of what competitive eracing could look like as the esport grows. And if the full rig ends up making it to eracing events, players are in for a treat.
To put the Eracing Simulator together, Razer teamed up with Vesaro, Simpit, Fanatec, and Synthesis VR to work in all of the tech needed to simulate tearing down a track without actually being in a car. At CES 2020, the rig is being demoed with Project CARS Pro, immersing players in a 202-degree projection system on top of a hydraulic platform with "full manual controls, and a steering wheel with paddle shift." Even the seatbelts constrict when you accelerate to amp the simulation up even more.
From Razer:
The simulator chassis is built with an ultra-strong hand-crafted center core designed around an advanced modular upgrade system, allowing for many simulation scenarios. The center core sits on a motion platform powered by two actuators and a gaming control box for a professional racing training setup that maps terrain surfaces, G-force and sounds into motion for a completely immersive experience. Real surround visuals provided by Simpit come from two Full-HD projectors beaming onto a 128-inch custom black projection surface with 202-degree field-of-view with vibrant colors and deep blacks.
Rounding things out is a steering wheel made of anodized aluminum and carbon fiber, then rapped in leather. There are also magnetic paddles and a set of three foot pedals.
This isn't something that any average joe is just going to have in their living room. However, Razer says that it plans to continue developing the concept as it pushes further into eracing competitions and leagues.
