Razer’s Project Ava Arrives as a Desk-Side Holographic Companion

Razer originally debuted an AI gaming coach at CES last year, but the true magic began to unfold in 2026. That’s when Project Ava, a holographic AI companion, began to take shape. It’s a compact machine that sits on your desk and projects a 3D figure in front of you; all it need is a USB-C connection to a Windows PC to function.

What really makes it shine is the 5.5-inch display inside, which is where the 3D magic happens, resulting in a full-body avatar that appears to be hovering in mid-air. You also have dual microphones that pick up your voice from across the room, as well as an HD camera that monitors your face and changes the lighting accordingly. A down-firing speaker handles all audio output, and a ring of adjustable RGB LEDs around the base provides Razer’s signature green glow.

The avatars themselves are quite diverse, with Kira looking like a confident young woman in a green dress, Zane, a hardcore gamer with tattoos and all, and a version based on esports player Faker, or just a glowing ball. Each one moves quite fluidly, following your gaze, displays facial expressions, and even syncs the lips to the words you pronounce. To regulate volume and mute, simply push the physical buttons on top – nice and simple.

For the time being, xAI’s Grok language model is powering everything behind the scenes, but Razer intends to add other systems in the future. As you use Ava more and more, the AI learns from your chats, remembering your habits, favorite games, daily routines, and other details. This implies that as time passes, it begins to make suggestions that appear to be tailored to you.

So, how does Ava learn all of this? Well, it has a couple tricks up its sleeve. The microphones and camera between them allow the device to get a solid sense of what’s going on in your room as well as what you’re doing. Then there’s the (quite aptly named) PC Vision mode, which allows Ava to see what’s on your computer screen in real time. This means it can recognize terrible players in a game, propose actions, and applaud you on when you score big. If you aren’t playing games, it can just scan a spreadsheet or look up deals online for you.

Outside of games, Ava becomes quite useful, assisting you with day-to-day tasks such as organizing your schedule, sending reminders for your workouts or routines, proposing clothing based on a short camera scan, and even providing solutions for work challenges. In games, it functions as a constant teammate, providing strategy without taking control of your keyboard or mouse.

Razer sells this as a helpful presence that is there to support you without ever criticizing you. You communicate with Ava via push-to-talk commands, similar to holding down a mouse button, to avoid accidently interrupting somebody in the middle of a conversation. Also worth noting is that the device tries to remain offline for processing whenever feasible, although all of the details regarding how it handles data are hazy right now because they are still in the pre-production stage.

Pre-orders have been opened in the United States, with a $20 refundable deposit. The full release date is set for the second half of 2026, with no final pricing announced. Early samples have showed some really fluid animations and quick responses, although there are still a few misreads of screen content to work out.