Virtual Reality Casinos

If you’re anything like most gamblers, the word “casino” will immediately bring to mind a broad range of different associations. The sound of the chips being laid out, and of the chatter of the other gamblers as they move around the room. Bright lights overhead and the feel of the carpet below. The illuminated statues and other ornamental features.

When you visit a casino, it’s not just for the opportunity to make a bet and have a chance at winning some money; it’s for the overall atmosphere, the spectacle, and the fun and excitement offered by the whole experience.

Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to get out of your home and head down to an illustrious casino whenever you have a free evening or weekend that you want to spend doing a bit of responsible gambling.

Sometimes, you’re just stuck indoors and have to make the best of the situation you find yourself in.

But, as with so much else in the world today, modern technologies are helping to revolutionise the gambling and casino industries, and are leading to the innovation of dynamic new ways to play that are already beginning to take the world by storm.

Out of all the technological innovations at play, the recent advent of Virtual Reality (or “VR”) casinos seems set to be the most fundamental game changer that the gambling industry has encountered, perhaps ever.

Virtual Reality – a Slow Starter Finally Coming into Its Own

The idea of virtual reality has been around for a very long time indeed, and has served as a staple feature in sci-fi films and literature, and the public consciousness at large, for decades at the very least.

As with most ambitious and exciting ideas from the world of fiction, there has – for quite a while, too – been a good deal of interest in achieving real and functional virtual reality technologies that can be used for all manner of different things ranging from entertainment to communication.

It was in the mid-90s that the first real and credible attempts were made at introducing virtual reality gaming headsets, in the form of Nintendo’s Virtual Boy and the Forte VFX1. 

Though the concept was daring, and bears certain similarities to contemporary virtual reality systems, the platforms were ultimately a flop. Various reasons probably contributed to this, including the fact that computing and graphics technology simply were too rudimentary, in addition to the significantly smaller customer base of dedicated gamers and tech-savvy individuals.

What was begun in the imagination of science fiction authors and then haltingly brought into reality in the mid-90s, however, was finally realised as a viable technology with the release of modern VR systems in 2016, including Facebook Oculus Rift, Valve’s Steam VR, HTC’s Vive and Sony’s PlayStation VR.

Today, the processing power and customer base are there, and VR technology is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds every day.

It was only a matter of time before virtual reality technology would be applied to casinos – and that trend has, itself, now begun in earnest.

From Brick and Mortar, to Online, to Virtual Casinos

Traditional brick and mortar casinos have been around in one form or another for a very long time – maybe even back into prehistory, depending on how you want to define a “casino.”

Early Online Casinos

The first departure from the strictly physical and in-person casino experience, came about in the mid to late 90s, in the form of online casinos which offered people the ability to gamble from the comfort of their own homes.

It was in 1994, with the passing of The Free Trade & Processing Act in Antigua & Barbuda, that the ground was laid and the precedent was set for online gambling – and within the next few years, online casinos have enjoyed an explosion in popularity and prevalence.

Early online casinos suffered from the constraints of the technologies of the day, and so were technologically unsophisticated, featured very poor graphics, and were subject to limited web design and other drawbacks.

Modern, Streamlined Online Casinos

Since online casinos have been around since the mid-90s at this point, they have had a good deal of time and opportunity to become increasingly sophisticated and streamlined, and have also enjoyed a significant growth in the number of games on offer through their platforms.

Roulette, Craps, Baccarat, Blackjack, Slots and many more casino classics are frequently found on popular online casino sites, often with specific tweaks and variations that help to make the experience more interesting.

It’s now also common, for example, to find online casinos that utilise webcams in order to give you a more direct casino experience – such as by fixing the webcam on a roulette wheel which is then spun by an assistant, as the gamblers are able to watch on and chat to each other through a text-based chat room.

The Next Logical Step: VR Casinos Blending Video gaming, eSports, and Gambling

Virtual reality casinos represent the next evolution of the online casino experience – but there are significant differences between the ways in which VR casinos are developing, versus traditional casino setups, and even more recent online platforms.

For one thing, VR casinos are utilising advanced technologies originally pioneered for the video gaming industry, and so are drawing together different demographics and interest groups as a result.

The technology involved is also leading to different systems being created for the VR casino experience – with the end result being platforms that seem to merge elements of video gaming, eSports, and gambling, to create an interactive and highly immersive experience for and between players.

What Kinds of Games Are Available through VR Casinos?

It’s important to realise that virtual reality casinos are still in their infancy. After all, the technology that has allowed for VR casinos to exist has only been around since approximately 2016.

For this reason, one of the downsides of VR casinos is the simple fact that they have had less time than online casinos to undergo a streamlining process, and to develop a wide range of games that can be indulged in.

Nonetheless, VR casino platforms are quickly developing and moving from strength to strength, and are routinely developing and expanding the selection of games they are able to offer.

Here are some of the games you can generally expect to find available on VR casino platforms.

Roulette

Roulette is one of the most popular casino games for both moderate gamblers and high rollers alike, and translates very well to web-based and virtual reality platforms due to its strong visual elements, and the lack of direct interaction needed by the player.

You can generally expect roulette to be a well-represented priority game type on VR casino platforms.

Blackjack

Virtual reality blackjack is another staple that you can expect to find, with your VR headset allowing you to feel as though you are really sitting at the table and interacting with your cards.

Slot Machines

Virtual reality slot machines are almost certainly the most popular VR game type found among VR casino platforms, likely due to the relative simplicity of the game type, in addition to the highly emotive and attention-grabbing features that translate very well to VR – namely, striking visual themes and elements, the lights, and the sound effects.

What Setup Do You Actually Need to Play at a Virtual Reality Casino?

First and foremost, it’s important to understand that virtual reality casinos are subject to the hardware requirements and limitations of modern virtual reality platforms and technologies in general.

In other words, being able to actually play at a VR casino will require a high end gaming PC with appropriate specs, that can support the much higher resolution, processing power, and frame rate needed by VR feeds than by standard video feeds.

While in a normal videogame, a frame rate of 60fps will generally be considered good for a high-performance gaming experience, virtual reality has significantly different requirements, with a minimum recommended frame rate being approximately 90fps.

Ultimately, being able to immerse yourself in a 3D virtual reality experience, while moving your gaze around freely as well, requires a lot of processing power and very little latency in order to avoid a completely unplayable situation.

Here are a few of the hardware requirements your PC will likely need to meet, if you want to try your hand at gambling in a VR casino.

Hardware Spec List

8GB RAM

2x USB 3.0 ports (with software support) and HDMI 1.3

An Intel Core i5- 4590 or equivalent processor at minimum

A GeForce GTX 970 graphics card or newer

A Virtual Reality Headset

Check If Your PC Is Ready Using NVIDIA GeForce Experience

In order to check if your PC is VR ready before buying any headsets or signing up to any services, one quick and easy approach is to download and install the NVIDIA GeForce Experience program, and have it evaluate your PC and give you an update on how your specs stack up.

You can also find out more about the hardware and software specs that NVIDIA (a leading graphics card producer) lists for their VR services.

How Should You Expect the VR Casino Experience to Differ from the Standard Online Casino Experience?

Although the concept of a VR casino isn’t a world away from the basic idea of a standard online casino, the experience of gambling on one platform versus another is bound to feel radically different.

The primary difference that you should expect from the two experiences, is that a VR casino entails a much more involved gambling session, which is simultaneously much richer and more immersive.

By contrast, online casinos are often available to play on the go, at a moment’s notice, and with little setup required – with the trade off being that they tend not to be very immersive at all, by comparison.

Thanks to HTML5 games found on many online casinos, playing through your phone or tablet, or through your browser, tends to be a straightforward process.

Joining a VR casino, however, will involve downloading and installing a dedicated software program to your PC, that you then login to after setting up your VR headset and system. Once you’re in, you’re really in.

A simple way to think of it might be that VR casinos represent something of a midway point between conventional brick and mortar casinos on the one hand, and MMOs and other highly advanced multiplayer video games such as World of Warcraft, on the other hand – with a much higher degree of immersion thanks to the VR setup.

VR casinos are also likely to be quite interactive, with different players being represented in your field of view by different “avatars,” and with voice chat being an option to really heighten the experience of being in the company of other people.

It’s worth bearing in mind that the VR casino platforms of today are continually growing and developing, at a rapid pace.