The online casino landscape continues to improve at lightning speed beyond even the wildest expectations of experts and gamers. Undoubtedly, technology continues to play a massive role in the success of online casinos. And with artificial intelligence playing such a magnificent and heavy role in the online gaming process, the games become more real and immersive. Also, augmented reality technology continues to shape the online casino experience. This article breaks down all the amazing ways that augmented reality continues to shape the future of online casinos.
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What is Augmented Reality?
You might have heard about the concepts of virtual and augmented reality. But what are these amazing technological concepts, and are they interchangeable? First, virtual reality, which has roots in the 1990s, is a technology designed to create such an immersive experience that you feel like you are really there. A great way to understand virtual reality is the blockbuster Hollywood film “The Lawnmower Man,” starring Pierce Brosnan.
To help immerse players into the gaming experience, a headset is usually involved. With the headset, the virtual reality can seem so real and convincing that the player feels like they are really in that world, including the ability to manipulate the virtual gaming environment and characters.
With augmented reality, additional digital information is applied to either a real-life scenario or, in the case of casino games, the virtual scenario. The unique blend gives the player an enhanced version of reality, making the playing experience magical, surreal, and, most importantly, unforgettable.
The Rise of Augmented Reality in iGaming
With the switch to HTML5 technology, modern-day online casinos were able to experiment with new and more sophisticated technology. The top developers like NetEnt and Pragmatic Play wasted no time re-imagining their game libraries by creating video slots. With the instant success of the new video slot technology, the same developers, including Microgaming, began refining the graphical layout of their games.
Because slots were so popular, they began to experiment with augmented reality. The results were the smashing success of 3D online slots. 3D slots is the next evolution of video slots with a more enhanced backgrounds. Also, 3D slots, like Gonzo’s Quest, helped to usher in the character-driven storylines for slot games. Because these characters interacting with the gaming environment, players became hooked and had a hard time to pull themselves away.
Beyond the interactive characters, augmented reality also impacted the background playing environment. Beyond the razor-sharp graphics, augmented reality slot games have interactive environments. Unlike video slots, where the backgrounds are static, augmented reality slot games have moving clouds, rain, snow, and even a change between night and day. Going the extra mile, players can now even interact with the background, much like with today’s video games. And when you win, witness the power of augmented reality, having the winning icons shake the screen and even zoom in to where it seems like it’s inches away from your face.
The biggest contribution that augmented reality has on slot games is the bonus rounds. Because today’s slots feature megaways and hold-and-spin features, the animations and the environments shift seamlessly to take the immersive and enhanced gaming experience to the next level. Witness winning symbols animate across the reels are spun, or witness enhanced animations and cinematic inserts for landing the right combination of bonus symbols or coins.
Enhancing the Live Dealer Experience
To say that the live dealer experience has come a long way is an understatement. While the live dealer technology dates back to the late 2000s, it wasn’t until Evolution Gaming perfected it by 2019 that players flocked in droves to online casinos. In many ways, live dealer gameplay and augmented reality technology are the perfect match.
The appeal of live dealer play is the insanely sharp resolution, usually streamed in cinematic 4k resolution. Every attention to detail goes into building an authentic studio setup. Everything from the dealer or croupier to the playing table is as authentic as playing in person.
So, with augmented reality, extra layers are added to the 4k streaming experience. For example, with augmented reality, players can read even the fine print on the blackjack or craps table. Also, augmented reality introduces the concept of 3D live dealer games.
3D live dealer games introduce new and special angles to add to the surreal and smooth playing experience. The best example of this is 3D craps. In addition to the bonus angles, thanks to augmented reality, players feel like they are rolling the dice directly from their hands to the point where they can clearly read the dice number as if they were standing above the table.
With 3D live baccarat and blackjack, prepare to feel like you’re shifting your playing cards like you would playing with some friends in real life around the table. Roulette lovers can’t resist 3D live roulette. Even after the croupier spins the wheel live, thanks to enhanced camera angles, players can have unbelievable views of the white ball spinning around the wheel before settling down on the number.
Besides the surreal live dealer play, augmented reality enhances the overall statistics of live dealer games. For example, players can see enhanced statistics about their win and loss rations playing live dealer games.
Enhancing the Online Gaming Tutorials
Just like today’s online casino games have come a long way, so have the built-in tutorials. Gone are the days of the static guides with text. Thanks to augmented reality, online casino game tutorials can now feature interactive guidelines and areas to learn more about the game. When playing demo games, augmented reality can help pinpoint your strong areas and tell you where to improve.
Conclusion
We’ve only touched the surface in this article about how augmented reality is shaping the future of online casinos. Another major factor for augmented reality is the growing role of artificial intelligence. AI helps to produce games faster and sets the outlines for the game design. With its advance tools, it help insert augmented reality technology to make even new and sensational gaming experiences.
