Project Ava is a holographic AI assistant that promises to watch your every move to offer both gaming advice and 'wardrobe tips'

(Image credit: Razer)

You'll know Razer for their slick gaming chairs, headsets with an earful of charm, and much more besides. Now, the company revealed during CES 2026 that it's taking its black-green theme to the fresh frontier of… AI assistants.

CES 2026

(Image credit: Future)

Catch up with CES 2026: We're on the ground in sunny Las Vegas covering all the latest announcements from some of the biggest names in tech, including Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Asus, Razer, MSI and more.

The desk companion version of Project Ava looks not unlike the sort of sci-fi container where many a wayward life form has inevitably found itself. Test tube looks aside, the headline act of this hardware is the holographic display in the middle. The device also deploys an HD camera with eye-tracking, plus a far-field mic to fulfill its coaching duties.

PC Vision Mode means the device can even look at your screen in order to give real-time advice—but this version of Project Ava won't just be offering questionable gaming pointers.

Razer instead bills the desk companion as "a true digital partner designed to support every facet of modern life." In other words, Project Ava is now both a backseat gaming bot as well as an especially fancy personal digital assistant.

The Dipal D1 pod displaying Dipal's AI assistant mascot, Pearl. — This is NOT the Project Ava desk companion...but could its animated avatars look similar? (Image credit: Dipal)

Razer goes on to say, "Ava combines intelligence with personality for an experience that feels natural, engaging, and personal." That personal touch comes in the form of, as you may have already guessed, animated holographic avatars on that luscious little screen.

I've yet to see Project Ava go full 'tiny anime woman trapped in a cyber prison,' but this desk companion will offer a selection of live looks. These include Razer's original characters Kira and Zane, as well as avatars representing 'esports legends'.

You can also adjust the tenor of Ava's avatar, choosing from "bold and sassy, to calm and friendly." These holograms are only about 5.5 inches tall, but deploy eye-tracking, facial animations, and lip syncing to get their proffered 'personality' across.

For some (i.e. me) that's creepy enough, but Razer also touts Project Ava's adaptive AI. This means that not only does the holographic desk companion remember your previously set preferences and can help assist with organising daily tasks, but it can even offer "wardrobe tips". I'm not sure I'm ready for the shame of a tiny animated woman yelling, "You're not going out looking like that, are you?"

Project Ava is expected to offer everything from recipe tips to gaming strats in the second half of 2026. If you're a US-based gamer and the idea of Project Ava spying on your screen in order to give you gaming advice doesn't immediately give you the willies, you can reserve your own desk companion for $20 right now.

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Jess has been writing about games for over ten years, spending the last seven working on print publications PLAY and Official PlayStation Magazine. When she’s not writing about all things hardware here, she’s getting cosy with a horror classic, ranting about a cult hit to a captive audience, or tinkering with some tabletop nonsense.

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