Razer sets its sights on saving the seven seas with smart robots

Razer's ClearBot smart robot for cleaning the oceans

(Image credit: Razer)

A couple of months back, Razer surprised us all by announcing its collaboration with The Nurturing Co, to get eco toilet paper brand Bambooloo up and running. It was the first installment in a "$50 million war chest to support and invest in environmental and sustainability startups."

Now, continuing with the Razer Green Fund initiative, and in celebration of World Oceans Day on June 8, Razer is set to announce a new partnership. This time, with marine waste cleaning company, ClearBot.

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ClearBot is a Hong Kong-based startup that, with Razer's help, has now had the boost it needed to start getting the oceans cleaned up. Razer hasn't just thrown money at the startup either; this is a true collaboration, and soon Razer branded ocean cleanup bots will be jetting across the seven seas, in an effort to make up for another of our sordid missteps.

"Razer’s leading engineers and designers have volunteered personal time and technical expertise to help turn their prototype into a scalable, mass-marketable product. Leveraging on Razer’s extensive knowledge and manufacturing know-how, ClearBot was able to evolve the robot design into one that is smarter and more efficient.

"The newly designed and fully automated robot is armed with cutting-edge AI and machine learning capabilities that can detect marine plastics within two meters in rough waters. The robot can collect up to 250 kg of plastics in just one cycle, while running on solar-powered energy."

We spoke to Patricia Liu, Razor's Chief of Staff, about the company's sustainability initiatives, and its reasons for shifting into a lifestyle brand with such intense visions of a green future.

"It’s nice for Razer to be more commonly associated to the public as a lifestyle brand rather than strictly for gamers," Liu explains, "But we only do so because we feel we have the resources to make a positive difference."

So the move is really about utilising the position the company has found itself in to do good. "Razer is in a good place to galvanize our community, which includes youth, millennials, and Gen Z." And by reaching out to them through its many initiatives, Razer really is making a difference.

With the Sneki Snek campaign having saved almost 300,000 trees (at the time of writing), and the success of the Kanagawa launch soon to fund the recovery of 1,337 kg of ocean plastic with the Seven Clean Seas initiative, it seems there's no stopping Razer's green tide.

Having been obsessed with game mechanics, computers and graphics for three decades, Katie took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni and has been writing about digital games, tabletop games and gaming technology for over five years since. She can be found facilitating board game design workshops and optimising everything in her path.