Could Virtual Reality Lead Online Gaming’s Next Revolution?

The development of new technology over the past few years has correspondingly led to a surge of popularity in online casino games. The smart phone being produced in 2007 has resulted in online casinos taking off in terms of usage. The ability to play your favourite casino games on the go was a groundbreaking development. It is great to be able to play on the slot machines from the comfort of your own home, on the train or on your lunch break at work, but what will be the next industry changing development of technology in this field? Well, virtual reality could be the answer to that question. It has been successfully adapted into other games, so maybe casinos will be where it goes next.

What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual Reality is a piece of technology that is designed to help the player feel more involved in the game by displaying a life-like simulated experience that can be similar to or completely different to that of the real world and known surroundings. This is commonly done by combining images with special effects on top of the video gameplay to demonstrate a 360 view of the environment to the end user. In most cases the user would wear electronic equipment, such as a helmet or goggles with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors.It is pretty cool but you might need to be aware of your actual surroundings and what’s going on before you embark . A common use of virtual reality comes in the form of training people up for a new job such as pilots. The company gives the goggles to a new employee to teach them how to manage situations that may occur on a daily basis. The computer simulated scenarios will look as if they are real to the person wearing the headset so it proves for a good training exercise.

Will Virtual Reality Come Into Gambling?

This is definitely something that is possible in the near future. Online gambling is continuously developing, which we’ve seen tracking the evolution of games on CasinoRange.com, and it is likely that virtual reality could be a part of that. The sort of thing we can expect to see if it does come into this field would be features like virtual slot machines or slot games. This would allow the player to be able to view the slot reels from inside the goggles then press the button to spin them with a device in their hands. The benefits of this will be incredible graphics with a 3D feel to them. It will feel as if you are right in front of a real slot machine but in reality you could be sitting in your house. It is having the opportunity to play the newest online slot games from your sofa, but it feels as though you are in an actual casino or within the specific slot games environment. This 360-degree view of gaming will be as close as you can get to be in a real casino without actually having to go to one.

A drawback of this is that the software is incredibly expensive at the current time. Not many people will be able to afford the software that is required for virtual reality, so until the software becomes widely available, it is likely that people will be put off available until the price falls. Furthermore, the technology has to be specifically designed for the resource it is being used for, hence why it is so expensive. It’s imperative that casinos make the difference between playing online and in a land-based casino as little as possible, virtual reality could be the answer to this.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is one step further than (or perhaps sideways from) virtual reality. This is where real world environments get enhanced by computer generated images. Perhaps the most common example of augmented reality is the PokemonGo game that has been hugely popular, with over 1 billion downloads by early 2019 and grossing over $6 billion by the end of 2020. The augmented reality in Pokemon Go allows the player to look at the real world in front of them but also see computer generated content as well. So, you could be on a walk down a public footpath yet see a Pokemon in front of you thanks to augmented reality. in this game, the Pokemon would be as if it was a video on the device you play on. It is exciting to see that technology has developed this much and can be rolled out to other games.

It may be a little trickier to implement augmented reality into gambling though. It will be possible for a player to see a roulette wheel in front of them, but they will have the option to place bets on their phone (or other device) and then watch the result come in on the wheel? Realistically, there is no difference between doing this and watching the wheel spin round in the actual game. However, it is much more enticing, being able to see the wheel as if it is in your room so definitely has its pros.

Verdict

Virtual reality is a neat piece of technology that has a lot more advantages than drawbacks to it. It is highly likely that it could get implemented into gambling in the not too distant future. However, the kit is very expensive which may put a lot of people off from getting started with it. Overall though, you should expect to see more casino sites plugging it for use on their sites.

How cool would it be to be able to sit in your own house, yet still feel as if you are at a casino playing at a roulette table, even talking directly with a live dealer and sipping your virtual drink, perhaps arguing or flirting with the player across the way. Watch this space as it is very likely that they become exciting new parts of the casino industry!