Adults of all ages enjoy gambling but traditional casinos tend to be most popular with older people. Although that number has trended younger slightly in the last ten years, that still puts their main demographic around 45 years old. With the millennial generation hurtling towards that casino demographic threshold, it’s time for casinos to embrace technology to capture these players.
Smart casinos have already started to embrace online gaming sites and other technologies but they’ll have to go a step further and start predicting the next big technological trends in order to stay relevant. Traditionally people would sit themselves down in front of one slot machine and stay there for hours, which worked out great for casinos because even if these players won they’d inevitably feed most of, if not all of, the money back into the machine. Today’s players are used to social gaming, high definition, and being rewarded for loyalty. Here are a few of the cool technologies being leveraged by casinos right now to encourage a new generation of gamers.
Online Casino Experiences
At this point, online gambling isn’t a brand new idea. In fact, the first online casino is around 25 years old. Rapid technological progress has propelled online casino growth at an epic rate. According to Gamblers Daily Digest, the online gambling market was measured at a market size of $45.8 billion in 2017 and is predicted to top $94.4 billion by 2024. One of the biggest advantages of online gambling is that you can do it from anywhere, anytime. If you have a few minutes in line at the grocery store you can gamble on your smartphone. It’s also incredibly easy to transfer money and buy credits online.
The online gambling experience will continue to upgrade its use of technology to make it more and more attractive to the social gaming generations by adding concepts like “leveling up” and “collections.” They will go further than ever before with high definition graphics and incredible sounds. Safety concerns with the storage of payment information and personal data will also be strengthened to provide a sense of security while playing online. The use of BlockChain, cryptocurrency, and online security measures will all help strengthen and grow the online casino market.
Wearable Device Apps
Wearable devices are gaining popularity fast, with devices like the Apple Watch or the Fitbit health tracker dominating the market. Casinos are starting to see the possibilities that could come from integrating with these devices as they become more and more common. You could soon see them tied to the concierge and loyalty apps we’re about to mention below. Imagine being able to gain special VIP access to areas of a casino with your wristwatch. You could track, monitor or even place bets using the wearable tech. Development for this area is happening now and we’ve only just scratched the surface of what’s possible with smartwatches and casinos.
Concierge And Loyalty Apps
You’d have a hard time finding an industry that lavishes more care and attention to its customers than the gambling market. Casinos were built on making people feel like an honored guest. Their luxury hotels were designed to make people feel like they were getting special treatment. As we move away from face to face concierge services, because the millennial generations and beyond are more comfortable using self-service technology, phone apps will become increasingly important. You can use your concierge app to book rooms, track or use comps, operate your in-room TV set and a whole lot more. The casinos can benefit from a ton of data collection and a more organized system for customer rewards.
Mike Tan from Online Casino Gems says, “The ability to attract and retain new customers is what drives your bottom line.” You not only need to get new users in the door or on your site, but you need to give them a reason to stay. Connecting the customer to your establishment with an app-based loyalty program could do just that.
Online Slot Machine Technology
Online gambling uses slot machines and other games of chance that are built out of computer code that uses a complex system of probability programing. Software developers strive to make realistic gambling experience possible with the same odds you can expect in real-world casinos. According to Weekly Slot News, online gambling is just as highly regulated at the state and federal levels as real-world gambling. If sites don’t adhere to these regulations they will be taken down. It is important to invest in and improve technologies that keep games fair and within regulations.
Big Data And Predictive Analytics
When it comes to spotting tech trends of the future, who better to do the predicting than the machines themselves? Online gaming gives site owners a tremendous opportunity to collect user data that will help them see what customers like and what other types of games they might be interested in. Mining and analyzing data might not sound sexy but it’s what will give one company a competitive advantage when done right.
Virtual And Augmented Reality
Big time investments are being made into the use of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality with online gambling sites. VR will make you feel as though you are in another world while standing in your living room (being able to take a virtual walk through a famous casino), while AR will take digital objects and bring them into view where ever you are (such as making you see a slot machine superimposed into your bedroom). As the technology advances with better quality sounds and graphics, you can feel like your inside a casino without having to travel to Vegas for a vacation. The more realistic you can make the experience, the better, and that requires a ton of tech advancements over the next few years. With so many casinos on board, what once sounded like science fiction will soon be very real and accessible to many people.
Laila Azzahra is a professional writer and blogger that loves to write about technology, business, entertainment, science, and health.