This article outlines the tech that is changing how we game and will game for the foreseeable future. It’s worth being in the know, as some of these changes are already affecting the sector and will soon become the norm for a large number of games and gaming platforms.
Artificial Intelligence
Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology have begun to move out of the labs and into test products and gaming studios. Self-learning AI that has led to self-driving cars and computer vision is now making a major impact on the gaming industry. The start was the first chess-playing computer Deep Blue and there are now sophisticated games that can respond to player feedback and in-game characters that evolve as the game progresses.
AI has, to some degree, been used for a number of decades in gaming, but it is only now becoming more sophisticated as programmers make use of the improved computing capability and the numbers of players justifies the development in this area. Researchers are actually using the game environment to improve software intelligence as the strict rules and rewards systems in most games make for a great training and proving ground for AI that will be used to eventually perform many mental human tasks.
Virtual Reality
The use of VR headsets and software has increased as the technology improves and the headsets become more affordable, smaller and more streamlined. The Oculus Quest is the most progressive platform and there are now games that have grossed over $10 million for the Facebook Reality labs.
Not only will you be able to play online at Ruby Fortune but soon you will be able to walk into the casino in the comfort of your own home. The main development has been the reduction in costs for top VR headsets and the introduction of a wider games spectrum. These aspects have led to a much bigger user group, allowing for more to be invested to further improve the platforms, and hardware requirements.
Augmented Reality
This is where the games’ visual and audio content is integrated with the gamers’ real-life, real-time environment. Augmented reality doesn’t need a separate room to create the gaming environment, as it creates a playing field within the existing environment. The use of headsets is not widespread and currently the main AR games are played using mobile handsets and mobile gaming devices. AR is normally the process of superimposing the gaming environment on top of the users actual environment. The game can be as simple as a game of virtual chess played on a table. The pioneer in this field was the Pokémon Go app that used the smart phone gyroscope and GPS to create a location-based augmented reality game set up. The Pokémon you find are in your own real-world environment.
These now popular techniques and systems will form the future of online and computer gaming. They are simultaneously being tested and proven in the gaming context to eventually be available in all aspects of human life. From the smart house to the self-driven car, the aforementioned technology is changing more than just the way we game.
