How VR, AR and MR could Revolutionize Online Gambling
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Augmented and virtual reality in gambling; what to expect, how could it work? This article will preview the Virtual Reality technology and its impact on the iGambling and iGaming industries.
What is the difference between augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR)?
The purpose of what follows will be to clarify what is really behind each of reality acronyms.
Augmented Reality (AR)
Augmented is a form of computer-generated imagery that adds digital information to the user’s environment in real time. AR has been around for years but with recent advances in mobile processing power, AR is becoming more popular than ever before. AR has been around for much longer, with its roots going back to 1968 when Ivan Sutherland demonstrated it as part of his PhD thesis on human interaction with computers. AR was also central to the development of computer-aided design (CAD) systems in the 1970s. The maybe most famous example is the Pokémon GO game from Nintendo, which blended monsters with our everyday public spaces.
Mixed Reality (MR)
While AR allows virtual info to be overlaid on a real environment, users cannot interact with it like they would be able to in real life. This capability is reserved for a mixed reality (MR) environments.
Mixed Reality is to merge real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time. This means that the new image is placed in the real space, so that the new image can interact with the real things in the physical world as we know it to a certain extent. The key feature of the MR environment is that synthetic content and real-world content can react to each other in real time.
Virtual Reality (VR)
Virtual Reality is similar to AR but instead of adding digital information into your current environment, you are immersed inside an entirely new one that includes 3D graphics, sounds, smells etcetera. VR is a more recent phenomenon, but one that has already had a major impact on gaming and how we experience entertainment media like movies and TV shows.
Extended Reality (XR)
An emerging umbrella term for all the realities just mentioned is Extended Reality (XR). In other words XR refers to all real and virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer power and wearables.
As AR/VR technology continues to evolve, what will be their impact on gambling?
AR/VR gambling will allow players to place bets and play against other AR or VR users in their own AR casino. Your own AR environment could include avatars of your friends, allowing you to chat with them before placing a bet on the next big game!
Virtual Reality is also being developed for online casinos so that they can offer customers an unmatched experience. These AR casinos will allow online casino players to play their favorite games while feeling like they are in the real environment of a traditional brick-and-mortar casino.
How could AR and VR change online casinos experience?
While AR hasn’t quite taken off in the world of online gambling yet, it’s going places fast. AR is likely to become the standard within online casinos in just a few years. AR has already shown huge potential for changing how people gamble, including helping players see into what’s underneath their cards and experience casino games like never before.
There is no doubt that VR will provide additional benefits to online gamblers in the future, allowing them to literally transport themselves to beautiful and exciting virtual casinos filled with hundreds of other online VR players using cutting-edge technology. Consider this: when you play slots in a virtual casino, you don’t just sit there with a screen in front of you; you have a fully three-dimensional slot machine to interact with. You’ll be able to look around at the other players, share some good conversation. Imagine playing poker at a VR casino and not having to push buttons to interact with the cards in front of you, but rather use your hands like you normally would?
Technology platform XR Casino
XR Casino is one of the first online casinos to launch an online gambling environment which implements a mixed reality gaming experience in which AR, VR and MR users can play together. They implement features such as:
- Text and Voice Chats between users
- A Holographic Casino in Any Room
- Duplicating Brick and Mortar Casino in XR
- Offers users to create unique avatars
AR and VR Casino Devises:
While we wait for igamling providers to implement AR/VR/MR in their online casinos, you can already now try out AR and VR environments. Here are listing of dedicated devices as VR headset as well as AR smart glasses and smart phones occupying this space.
- Oculus Quest 2 (VR headset)
- Asus Zenfone AR (AR smartphone)
- HTC Vive Cosmos Elite (VR headset)
- Valve Index (VR headset)
- Sony PlayStation VR (VR headset)
- Microsoft HoloLens 2 (AR glasses)
- Magic Leap One (AR glasses)
- Epson Moverio BT-300 (AR glasses)
- Vuzix Blade Upgraded (AR glasses)
- Google Pixel 2 (AR smartphone)
