How VR and AR are Making an Entrance into the Online Gambling World

Online gambling has grown significantly in the last ten years. It has revolutionized from regular online poker and slot games to an industry worth several billion dollars, and new technologies are consistently being adapted to it. 

One such technology is virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), which will be game-changers and are likely to reshape the way people interact with online casinos, sports betting, and other gambling platforms.

The Current Status of Online Gambling

Before analyzing the exciting upcoming virtual and augmented reality events, we must understand where we currently are. 

The online gambling platforms are betting websites specifically designed for mobile devices and new browsers. Reducing a player’s effort to go to a physical casino and increasing player retention through bonuses and promotions are some of the methods that have been successfully used to grow the industry. 

Even though easy reach-out is always a good idea, the casino experience remains more of a physical effort and lacks the necessary atmosphere and a life-like impression.

This particular issue is where the solution of VR and AR lies, as they are now entering the iGaming world and building a bridge between online and real-life gambling to come up with a concept of gambling that is entirely different from the usual one yet still interactive, new, and emotionally involving.

What Is Virtual Reality Gambling?

Virtual Reality gambling is the application of VR headsets to give players an experience of a three-dimensional gaming situation. The new gaming world of VR offers users a virtual reality casino in which they can walk on the casino floor, play any game, talk to the staff and other players, and even look around their surroundings, just like in a physical casino.

Different VR casinos exist where:

Walk through the gambling venuePick your most favorite casino gameCommunicate with other potential gamblersMake gestures like raising your hand to opt for a betThese platforms belong to the initial phase. However, it’s evident that VR is converting online gambling from a passive to an active behavior.

Augmented Reality: A Different Kind of Magic

Virtual Reality (VR), though new, the environment is not real whereas Augmented Reality (AR) superposes digital images on the world around you. For instance, you can visualize a roulette wheel on the coffee table through the phone screen, or a slot machine in the living room could be your next view.

Yet in the first stages of making strides in the gambling industry, AR was seen to:

Put up overlays of sports betting live during the gameCast the table of cards on any compatible surfaceTransport the latest odds and data in augmented reality glassesWith the aid of this tech, one can beef up mobile gambling apps and stage interesting gambling interludes in life’s everyday activities.

Why This Matters for the Gambling Industry

Together, VR and AR are indeed natural changes in online gambling. They guarantee:

Immersive experience: Players will swear they are walking through a real-life casinoEntertaining: Touch screen features make the games more grippingPossibility of social interaction: Various features of multiplayer tend to bring back the community aspectDifferent positioning: Casinos that embrace VR/AR could find a way to be the first among rivalsOn the one hand, it gives the players more fun and remarkable experiences. While the gaming firms get new possibilities for making money and customers’ loyalty.

Obstacles to the Widespread Use of the Technologies

It is certainly not immediate that virtual reality, VR, and augmented reality, AR, will be used to facilitate online gaming, even if this topic is much discussed. Several obstacles impede the process:

Hardware Requirements: VR headsets come at high prices and are still unavailable in every household.Technical Complexity: VR/AR casinos’ work is a combined effort of time and expertise in the IT field.Regulatory Issues: International gaming rules vary widely from country to country; hence local implementation is not always possible, and high-tech solutions could be a saving measure.User Adaptation: Players are already familiar with many platforms and could be slow in switching to new ones.Regardless of this fact, these barriers still have the potential to be a thing of the past when the price of hardware goes down and they cease to be exotic anymore.

The Aftermath of Online Gaming: More Involving and More Intelligent

Lifting our eyes to the future and putting AI and VR/AR together, we should remember that this encounter could sweep the conventional customer experience from its legs. Picture a casino with VR functionality that notices you and the types of activities you like, and therefore it changes the settings based on your playful mood, or an AR game that not only teaches you during the game but gives you instant strategy tips.

Most companies including startups are not only early adopters, but they are investing heavily in such combinations and are trying out many possibilities. This gives them a wide scope of possibilities ranging from the most expected ones like voice commands within AR glasses to the least expected like AI dealing in VR rooms.