Casinos have always occupied a special place in the heart of the gaming enthusiasts. People for ages have thronged to casinos to fulfill their entertainment requirements. Places like Los Vegas, Macau, Monte Carlo are known for their vibrant casinos which sees participation from players worldwide. Even our own Goa is known for it’s floating casinos on the shore. Now with the evolution of technology, much of casino action takes place online. With the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic pressing the brakes on brick and mortar casinos, online casinos are where the actual action is happening. The fear of contracting the virus has confined the people to online casino rooms mostly.
The technically sophisticated environment of online casinos have brought about a significant change in the outlook of people who are used to brick and mortar casinos. While the battle between online and land-based casinos are going on for some time, the Covid 19 pandemic have turned the tides in favor of online casinos. One of the greatest advantages offered by online casinos convenience of enjoying the game from their homes at a time they are comfortable with. Online casinos have become the foremost gaming engagements during Coronavirus lockdown for several gamers across the globe.
Virtual reality may be in its infant stages at the moment, but it is clear that the technology is here to stay. This is especially true in the online casino world where there are a ton of uses for virtual reality, as can already be seen in the virtual reality casinos that are popping up lately. VR stands for virtual reality, and so a VR casino is an online casino which offers you a virtual reality experience. Virtual reality is a pretty new computer technology, which uses virtual reality headsets to generate realistic graphics, sounds and other elements to create an imaginary environment. Essentially, then, virtual reality allows you.
Despite the prevalence of so many online casinos, the thrill and fun of certain games can only be felt with a physical visit to the casinos. However, with the advent of technologies like Virtual Reality and Augmented reality, the gap between real and online casino is less. Virtual Reality concept has redefined several games and in the process it impacted the online casino sector too.
Gamers have already felt the power of VR in games like Job Simulator and Farpoint. VR headsets like HTC Vive, Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift S, and PlayStation VR are seeing an increased sales over the past few years.
Even the online casinos are gradually introducing VR Casino games to bring a tinge of realism into their games. While it is still in its nascent stage, it’s more or less evident that VR based casinos are going to be the next big thing in the upcoming years with social distancing being the norm.
Imagine playing a spin of fortune or Russian roulette from the comfort of your homes. With VR headsets, you will get the look and feel of playing in a real casino. Many online card game sites are already experimenting with VR based technology to give the users a casino feel.
Though, it’s still a long way to go for developing complete VR based casinos, stellar efforts are being made which will come to fruition within the next few years. With AI technology ably supplementing VR and AR, users are all set to get an awesome online gaming experience.
Already several online casinos overseas have successfully implemented the trifecta of VR/AR/AI for better gaming experience and have witnessed groundbreaking results. It’s only a matter of time, Indian casinos dabble into this potential game-changer of a technology. Once proper VR based casinos come into place, brick and mortar casinos will become a thing of past.
With many casinos and developers being drawn into the benefits of virtual reality casinos, myriad casino-based games have been developed for VR. This list will showcase our top 3 picks for the best virtual reality casino games.
Our honorable mention must go to Grand Theft Auto 5 with its latest update (yes 6 and a half years later it is still being updated) a casino has been added with every game imaginable available. This is however not a VR experience but is available on both PS4 and Xbox One marking a significant milestone in the advancement of VR gaming.
Many believe that Virtual Reality is just another technology trend that will pass on in a year or so. However, its unique technology uses cannot be matched. It allows the user to experience a fully interactive and realistic simulation through a VR headset. As VR tech is still being developed and tweaked it is constantly being improved. Since the introduction of virtual reality casinos in 2015, the buzz around virtual reality gambling has increased tenfold due to significant media coverage and several controversies as some people believe ‘Ready Player One’ is what life will be like in 20-30 years with little to no physical social contact as technology slowly begins to consume regular people’s daily lives. Problems aside virtual reality show a lot of promise not just in the online gambling industry but many others as well and as VR technology improves the possibilities and benefits only increase.
An initial benefit of VR technology is that it will bring more people into gambling. A large percentage of consumers who gamble prefer to visit brick and mortar casinos rather than gamble online. VR will breach this gap as people who don’t have time to visit a casino but also don’t want to gamble online can use VR in the comfort of their own home and play virtual reality casino games rather than visiting a casino. This is especially beneficial to older consumers who aren’t computer literate and can’t access online gambling easily. VR is easily accessible showing why many casino establishments are keen to embrace this new technology.
Another benefit of VR gambling is that it offers a much more immersive and all-round higher quality experience to the consumer. As the technology improves and becomes more mainstream the sophistication and quality of the VR casino experiences will improve. This will, in turn, attract more customers to use this technology and spend more money on VR casinos. For example, they can bet on virtual horse racing and watch the race happen live as if they were at a racecourse. Another example is the game ‘Jack’s world’ which allows players to explore a 3D open-world subverted in the casino game jack and the beanstalk.
Many believe the use of VR to be a very lonely endeavor, however, this is very much the opposite of the truth. Many gamblers can communicate with each other while playing and interact with dealers on many kinds of virtual reality casino games. For example, all the people on a virtual blackjack table will be able to communicate with each other while playing offering a much more immersive and realistic experience than online gambling. This is especially beneficial to people who live solitary lives as similar to online gaming it allows them to communicate with other like-minded individuals.
Also, the experience is easily customizable for every consumer who accesses. Their own preferences including things from interior design of the casino to their own avatar’s appearance. This makes for a much more unique and tailored experience for every player. The technology takes your interests into account and will only promote to you games the user enjoys. This will increase the replayability of virtual reality leading to greater revenue streams for casinos.
Although the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to VR it is still important for consumers to be aware of the drawbacks when it comes to accessing virtual reality technology. The first issue is that there is a large upfront cost when it comes to purchasing a virtual reality headset with some of the cheapest being priced at around $500 with the most expensive being priced at well over $1000. For many, you are spending a lot of money to potentially lose even more.
Also due to Virtual Reality still being in a beta-phase with many releases still not fully completed. It is hard for developers to create games and for casinos to create their own VR games due to developer costs and problems due to the constant innovation of VR. Something developed for VR may be redundant in 2 years due to advancements in the technology.
If you are still waiting for the technological breakthroughs that make VR really appealing to you, you can always access some great online casinos UK, some of which are even starting to include some VR options already.