When playing today’s breathtakingly beautiful casino games, have you ever asked yourself why they are so immersive? The answer is strangely simple – augmented reality. With technological improvements comes innovation in casino games. Besides AI tools, augmented reality continues to show its impressive talents in today’s casino games and throughout the sensational UX web design. This article explores the incredible impact that augmented reality has on the iGaming experience.
The Origins of Augmented Reality
Not to be confused with virtual reality technology, which also has its roots in the 1960s, augmented reality has its origins in military technology of the 60s era. Designed for military aircraft in mind, the purpose of developing augmented reality was to have a quick and clear way to show information on the screens and windows of military planes.
The Rise of AR Gaming
It didn’t take long for the computer industry to jump on board with early AR technology. While we take for granted today’s seamless multimedia experiences, it was the Sensorama machine in the late 1960s that gave the public their first glimpse of augmented reality with realistic and enhanced visuals and soundtracks.
It wouldn’t be until 1990 that the familiar term “augmented reality” would become official. Thanks to Tom Caudell’s innovations in displaying information faster to his workers, augmented reality became mainstream.
AR in iGaming
Fortunately for online casino players, the rise of augmented reality technology merged perfectly with the rise of US real money online casinos. Come 2013, New Jersey’s online casinos became mainstream which opened the door for new and bold online casino games. With the switch to HTML5 technology, leading game developers like NetEnt and Microgaming began experimenting with augmented reality technology in their games.
This gave rise to the 3D slot genre. With the incredible success of Gonzo’s Quest, an interactive character-driven slot game, the top developers began creating 3D and interactive gaming environments. With augmented reality technology, players could see even more detail in the background, down to the different colored snowflakes falling to the virtual ground.
Also, augmented reality technology inspired how slot games are played. It’s no longer not enough to hear a simple chime to celebrate the win. Thanks to augmented reality, the winning symbols animate and literally pop off the screen.
With this new wrinkle and a chance for more immersive gameplay, slot game players saw the rise of special themes like outer space and mythology. Both of these impressive themes are famous not only for their bonuses but for the jaw-dropping realistic graphics and animations that feel almost real that you want to touch.
The Role of AR in Live Dealer Play
Come 2019, Evolution Gaming has mastered the live dealer technology experience. Like slots, today’s live dealer games are a major draw for online casinos to stay on top. The problem with the early days of live dealer play was inconsistent technology. With limited bandwidth and the graphics still in progress, these games would often glitch, causing many headaches.
However, with superior graphics and tremendous bandwidth, the stage for a realistic table game experience was set. With online casino players hooked, it didn’t take long for the top developers like Evolution Gaming and Playtech to include augmented reality into the live dealer gameplay.
Live roulette and craps are two of the top table games to benefit from augmented reality. With the realistic 3D experience, live craps players have the feeling of rolling the dice themselves. And with games like First-Person Roulette, sometimes it’s hard to tell if the player or the croupier is actually spinning the wheel.
The Future of AR in iGaming
With AI playing an evergrowing role in the iGaming scene, the top developers have already experimented with AI tools and augmented reality to provide a more personal gaming experience. With AR technology, players can see game info directly on the screen without interrupting their gameplay.
Conclusion
With the rise of social casinos, the door for the Metaverse is opening wider. Not only do social casinos incorporate and encourage gaming with other members, but with the marriage between AR and the Metaverse, social casino players might actually get to interact with other members or even have themselves directly in the casino games in the near future.
