How Casino Gaming Serves As A Proving Ground For Modern Tech

It’s not entirely uncommon for people to cite the video game industry as a proving ground for new and emerging technologies. After all, in the last decade or so we’ve seen gaming help to popularize smartphones, change how we think about online collaboration, and help to launch streaming platforms. Video games arguably even helped to legitimize the very concept of mobile apps!

This is all pretty interesting to think about if you’re one to appreciate the process of tech evolution. But even within this broader concept, it’s also worth thinking about how casino gaming specifically has helped to drive modern technology forward. While we wouldn’t necessarily claim that this category is solely responsible for major innovations, it’s quite clear that it’s played a role.

One reason this might not be apparent to everyone is that online casino gaming just isn’t always an option. It’s essentially available on a country-by-country basis, according to each government’s stance on internet gambling. Most notably, casino gaming platforms have emerged in certain places like Canada, the United Kingdom, and Oceania; whether or not you have access to those platforms depends on the gambling laws wherever you are at a given time.

Even if access isn’t a guarantee, however, it’s not hard to observe the online casino gaming industry and its relation to technology. Four connections stand out in particular.

Early VR Games

Virtual reality gaming never really had a concrete beginning. Strictly speaking, in fact, VR dates back several decades, with a few different forays into gaming and entertainment having occurred throughout that span. Today, however, it’s fair to say that VR has reached new heights. Modern virtual reality emerged, at least on the consumer front, in 2015 and 2016.

Since that time, people have largely been unable to form a consensus as to the value or appeal of this form of entertainment. One article exploring whether or not VR gaming has lived up to its promise pointed out various problems: inadequate games, the high cost of headsets, etc. However, the same piece also conveyed optimism, suggesting that as more people try VR, they’ll ultimately realize it’s “like nothing else.” This indicates the expectation that VR gaming is in fact here to say. And if that proves to be the case, people will look back, eventually, and realize that some of the very first concepts tried in the medium were in the casino category.

Some simpler attempts at VR poker were quick out of the gate; one or two prominent animated slot games were adapted to the medium; and in 2018 Poker VR became one of Oculus’s most successful games. While plenty of other games also found success, it’s fairly clear that the relatively simple nature of online casino games made them a good fit for early iterations of modern VR.

Random Number Generation

We wrote not too long ago about the emergence of a novel algorithm that might help to prevent fraudulent online transactions. Essentially, said algorithm is an advanced random number generator (or RNG) that can be used to make authenticity tests like CAPTCHA and one-time password generation more effective. But as those familiar with online casinos may well know, advanced algorithms of this sort have already been thriving for years as the technological backbone of the casino industry.

A thorough explainer of the Canadian game sites we referenced before covered the matter in clear terms: “each software developer and casino site must have their Random Number Generator certified by an independent agency.” Basically, each site operating has an RNG that is constantly working up outcomes for randomized games like slot and roulette arcades. And already, the sites hosting the games have to have those RNGs checked to make sure they’re advanced enough to ensure fair gaming. This has led the casino industry to play a key role in helping RNG tech along in recent years.

Artificial Intelligence

AI is another great example of a technology that is by no means defined by casino gaming — but which casino gaming has undeniably helped to propel. There are various examples of AI’s deployment in this category (including via the loosely related concept of random number generation we just covered). But the most exciting was last year, when news emerged that AI had beaten humans at their own game. Specifically, an AI program called Pluribus, developed by researchers from Facebook and Carnegie Mellon University, bested 15 professional poker players at six-player Texas Hold’Em.

This may sound like a just-for-fun development. However, those who know the game can understand that it’s more than that. Texas Hold’Em is a complex game that involves leverage, deception, some guesswork, and virtually endless possibilities. It is not, in other words, a simple matter of mathematics and probabilities. Pluribus, in a way, had to demonstrate some unusually human capabilities in order to master the game, making it one of the more advanced AI systems we know about in certain respects.

Through these examples, we can see that the online casino industry has actually been at the forefront of the development of some of our most exciting and impactful modern technologies. Again, we wouldn’t say that casinos are driving these technologies forward on their own. But understanding the role they play can be valuable, in that it may help us to recognize the next time internet casinos offer us an early glimpse of emerging tech.