For anyone who has been paying any attention to the online casino industry, the statement that it has grown and been successful in the last few years is not a controversial one. There are mitigating factors, but the main reason that this industry has grown so much in such a short period is due to its leveraging of technology. Like many industries, new technologies and their adoption have proven disruptive and allowed early adopters of said technology to become more successful than those who have resisted these changes.
This article will cover the recent meteoric rise in the popularity of online casinos. It will touch on the various technological innovations that have helped to drive this popularity, including advancements in the base software that gambling platforms use, the introduction and adoption of virtual reality (VR) for games, the uses of artificial intelligence (AI) in the industry, as well as other important technological innovations.
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The burgeoning popularity of online casinos
Online casinos have never been more popular. There are more of them, more people playing them and far more ways for those people playing them to enjoy themselves. With an enormous variety of games spread across a seemingly innumerable amount of online casinos, who could deny that they are, in fact, a popular entertainment pastime?
It’s no surprise that people would rather play at a casino online rather than travel to a physical venue. Playing online means that people don’t need to leave their homes, and in many cases, they can play while they are traveling or catching public transport. For the most part, these online casinos offer huge varieties of slot machines, similar to the classic ‘one-armed-bandit’, but with a veneer of technological sophistication. The best online casinos also offer live dealer games and often offer betting services as well.
All of these offerings can loosely be gathered under the umbrella of technological innovations, and we will go further in-depth into them later. But the key takeaway is that people enjoy convenience, and online casinos offer convenience in spades, and sometimes in hearts, diamonds and clubs, depending on the game you are playing.
The underlying technology has improved
While many specific technological improvements have occurred in the online casino industry, their base software has also improved. The games as a whole are smoother and more responsive, the graphics more pleasing to the eye, and the sound effects more vibrant. The platforms themselves have evolved.
No longer do enjoyers of casino games have to struggle through awful interfaces and squint to read the fine print of bright pink text against a bright red background. No, modern online casinos have adopted technological improvements in terms of their design as well as their back-end operation. With a pleasing UI and intelligent UX direction, online casino platforms are endeavouring to provide an enjoyable and pleasurable space for people to play in.
The internet is becoming a safer place
Your money is pretty safe online these days. The online casino industry is far from the first to adopt stricter and more effective security protocols, but they have adopted them to great effect. If you play at a reputable online casino, you are very unlikely to have any of your money, details, or data stolen. Security breaches can and do happen, even to the most security-conscious industries, but the important thing is that the online casino industry has matured enough to take protecting the capital of its users very seriously.
What sort of technological advancements are being used to protect financial information in the online casino industry?
Encryption
Secure socket layer (SSL) or transport layer security (TLS). Any online platform that deals with financial information that wants its users to be able to trust it, uses one or the other of these encryption protocols. It’s basic, but it works, and it’s only the first in a series of defences for the financial information of players.
Secure payment gateways
As well as their defences, most reputable online casinos also use secure payment gateways to handle the exchange of financial information.
Firewalls
You might consider this Internet 101, and it is, but it still bears mentioning. As other internet-based technologies advance, staples like firewalls are also changing and becoming more robust, and better able to handle the new threats that they might have to face.
Two-factor authentication
Although there is some question as to the effectiveness of 2FA, it does provide an extra layer of protection against unwanted access to sensitive information and personal accounts.
Anti-fraud systems
Most online casino platforms have fairly robust anti-fraud systems in place to detect and prevent users from performing fraudulent activities.
Biometric authentication
The most advanced online casino platforms have begun adopting biometric security measures. These include fingerprint and facial recognition technologies.
Playing casino games in virtual reality
While VR is still not widely adopted, many online casinos are banking on it being more accessible in the future. By future-proofing their services and offering VR games now to those few who engage with the technology, they are enabling future users to enjoy those games later. For those who do possess VR technology, the ability to become fully immersed in the online casino experience allows them to feel as though they are visiting a real casino and offers unprecedented interactivity with other players and the dealer.
Mobile gaming and accessibility
This is perhaps one of the biggest factors in the growth of the online casino industry. Everyone has a smartphone, so enabling your platform and games to be accessed on mobile opens up an enormous potential audience. The best online casinos have specialised UI’s that are mobile friendly, or even apps designed wholly for mobile use.
The benefits of playing on mobile should be obvious. People can play a quick game any time they have a slight amount of downtime. Waiting for a bus, letting your cup-a-noodle steep, on hold with a business contact. There are many opportunities when having quick and easy access to a casino game can be exploited.
The shift to mobile gaming has generated an immense amount of extra revenue and engagement for online casino platforms.
Artificial intelligence
AI has been a major disruptive force throughout the last year in many industries and the online casino industry is not exempt from its effects. AI is being used in the anti-fraud detection systems we mentioned earlier, it is also used in conjunction with data analytics, which we will touch on momentarily.
The full ramifications of AI on the online casino industry are still yet to be felt. As with many industries, AI continues to disrupt and change the way that things are done, but as this technology is essentially still in its nascent stages, it is difficult to say what true changes or effects it is having or will have.
The personalisation of the online gambling experience and big data
Analytics and big data is another technological advancement that is still in its nascent stages. Coupled with AI, big data analytics can analyse huge amounts of data generated by players. This can be used to personalise the gambling experience for the player, providing them with an individually tailored experience. The purpose of this is to attempt to present players with an increasingly engaging, customised and immersive experience. The more engaged a player is, the longer they are likely to spend playing.
Live dealer games
Live dealer games are simple at heart. A real person is handling the cards or spinning the roulette wheel and you can see them doing that through a live-streamed video feed. This new type of game has allowed players to feel more immersed and engaged with the games they are playing as they can interact with the dealer in real time. This type of game more closely resembles the experience of actually visiting a physical casino, as the player can banter and potentially build a rapport with the dealer and other players.
There is also an extra level of realism added as the players can see that real cards are being turned or a real wheel is being spun. Adding this layer of verisimilitude to the experience of gaming allows the casino to seem more trustworthy to its player base. Live dealer games are by far the most popular new type of casino game in the last decade.
The rising trend of embracing the importance of responsible gambling
As online gambling becomes more popular, so too does the importance of encouraging responsible gaming. While not strictly speaking a technology, in any discourse about gambling, the social advances around the pastime should be acknowledged.
In many countries across the world where gambling is an acceptable way to entertain yourself and spend your free time, responsible gambling initiatives are popular and respected. The idea is that some people have a predisposition towards gambling addiction and should be protected. This is done by ensuring that players are armed with the knowledge of the real chances of winning, and are encouraged to treat gambling as a form of entertainment, rather than as an opportunity to earn money.
By promoting responsible gambling, online casino platforms ensure that players can trust them. Players should always set themselves limits, stick to budgets, and avoid chasing losses. By following responsible gambling guidelines, players can enjoy themselves and continue playing without guilt or risk. Treating gambling as it should be treated, as a way to have fun and entertain yourself.
To conclude, online gambling lives and dies with the technological innovations that it can coopt. Modern online gambling owes everything to the technology on which it is built and thrives. Without the various technological advancements that gambling platforms make use of, and without mobile gaming being so prolific, the online gambling industry would not be worth the billions that it is.
Where new technological innovations might take the industry, is beyond the scope of this article to say. But we are sure that new ways to play and enjoy online casino games will be found.
