It’s been an unprecedented couple of years for the casino industry, with massive disruption due to the global pandemic. For land casinos this has been an enormous challenge, forcing business owners to find creative solutions to the new circumstances and make it as safe as possible to visit casino venues.
For online casinos, the events of the past couple of years have been an advantage. With more people staying home and using their computers, the number of new casino openings has skyrocketed – you can find listings of all newly opened sites on many web pages, like here. For new online casino sites, the challenge becomes how to stand out from the crowd. Here are the top ten new casino innovations happening right now and in the near future.
Touch-free tech in land casinos
Casino owners and innovators are exploring a few different avenues to make games like slots touch-free on the casino floor. One approach is to have the action occur on a floating virtual screen made of sensors, just above the physical glass screen of slot games. Another is the use of a QR code that transfers the game live to a player’s personal mobile device.
Personalisation from data analytics
Casinos already collect data on user behaviour and are increasingly using this data to tailor the casino experience to each individual player. This could include everything from simple games suggestions to special promotional offers. Of course, it also plays a big role in identifying problematic gambling patterns.
Virtual and augmented reality
Always promised but never quite arriving, could we finally see VR and AR being integrated into online casinos in the next couple of years? The issue with VR is the extra hardware requirements, so we predict that AR will hit first – especially with the majority of online gamblers using a mobile device.
AI and machine learning
Most of us can tell when our customer service query is answered by a bot, but that may not be true for much longer. As machine learning and AI become more sophisticated, it is possible that most simple issues will be easily resolved by chatbots. This will leave human agents with more time to dedicate to trickier issues. AI also has other casino applications, such as virtual dealers and game tutorials.
Cloud-based gaming
A good internet connection and a decent smart device are all you need for cloud-based gaming. No more storage issues as everything remains in the cloud.
Wearables
This tech is still in its infancy when applied to casinos, but there is a lot of potential. Smartwatches could replace mobile for gaming on the go, and smart glasses could bring the casino tables directly to players wherever they are.
Cryptocurrencies
A few years ago, crypto payment at casino sites was a distant fantasy. In 2021 it has become a widespread reality. Players love the security and anonymity that crypto provides, and today many leading online casino sites support Bitcoin and others. You can check out this article about best Crypto Casinos.
Cashless tech at land casinos
Many land casinos are introducing smart cards, so that patrons can avoid handling cash or chips. Another way to help casino users stay safe.
Facial recognition
Passwords can be hacked or forgotten, but with facial recognition, players can be sure that only they can get into their casino account. This tech is already in use in many land casinos to keep track of players and tackle possible illegal activity.
Radio frequency identification
RFID tech is a way for land casinos to do many things those online casinos can already do. For example, the tracking chips can be used for data collection to monitor player behaviour and identify potential problem gamblers.