Gambling is a popular form of entertainment and online casinos played regularly by adults in Canada and other countries around the world. The Canadian gambling industry has grown exponentially over the last few years and in 2019 the market size reached 14.72 billion US dollars.
While the number of people participating in land-based casino gaming in the country remains steady, the amount of online players is on the rise as access to online casino sites becomes easier. As technology continues to develop, these casino sites like 888 casino have more opportunities to improve the games they provide and create more immersive experiences for their players.
How has technology influenced the online casino industry?
People began to enjoy casino games via the internet not long after the development of the world wide web in the 1990s. In the first decade of its creation, these games were very basic and lacked the functionality, vibrant graphics and speed that today’s players are accustomed to.
As smartphones and tablet devices have developed over the last decade, more and more people have had quick access to mobile online casinos. Playing casino games online is often more convenient for gamers as they are able to play at a time and place that suits them through Wi-Fi or mobile data.
Online casinos also give players access to a much wider variety of games than they would find in Canada’s bricks and mortar venues, with many variants of poker, blackjack, and roulette easy to find on the internet as well as thousands of slot games with fun themes. Land based casinos are limited by floor space and can only host so many gaming tables and machines, whereas online casinos have the capacity to hold as many games as they like. Most Canadian players tend to play games with offshore casino providers as there is not, yet a large selection of Canada based operators.
What technological innovations are changing the online casino experience?
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence or AI is a fairly new piece of technology that has applications in every industry, including casino gaming. There are a few different ways that online operators have incorporated AI into their site to enhance players’ experience.
For example, one common use is customer service. Artificial intelligence is used to run chatbot features and handle enquiries about games, payments or other common question types from customers.
This is particularly useful for Canadian players playing on offshore sites as traditional customer service operating hours are likely to be in a different time zone. AI also helps to minimize labour costs for the casino, while they still need some workers to handle operators, AI can filter out some of the tasks and conversations that do not need to be human-to-human interactions.
AI is also used within the casino games for when users play against the machine. The technology helps make the experience seamless and realistic.
Cryptocurrencies
Another technology that has found its way into the world of online casinos is cryptocurrency, with some of the best-known being Bitcoin and Litecoin. Blockchain technology allows casinos and players to make secure, anonymous transactions such as withdrawing winnings or depositing money for bets.
Cryptocurrency is still fairly new for many people and so it is not yet widely accepted on online casino sites but there is still a selection of options out there. There are even casino sites that operate with only cryptocurrency transactions.
We are likely to see the use of this technology grow in popularity as more players and operators trust it and see the benefits of embracing it.
Better security and data protection
The security and data protection offered by online casinos has improved significantly in recent years and players have increased protection from data theft and casinos are more able to detect and prevent fraudulent activity.
One security measure that casino sites have is an SSL certificate. This ensures that sensitive data such as personal identification, passwords and credit card numbers are encrypted. It also confirms the site’s identity and increases player’s trust in the operator.
Mobile casinos are also using tools such as fingerprint scanning or face identification to authenticate player logins and customer protect accounts.
Virtual Reality
A new emerging technology with many applications is virtual reality or VR. VR software is being used to create entirely new gaming opportunities for players.
A casino gamer can access a virtual casino by wearing a VR headset and play games as they would in a land-based venue. They are able to walk around the virtual world and interact with players in a realistic way.
Online casino players in Canada are fully embracing the new offerings that casinos are developing thanks to technological advancement.
In order to meet demand and continue to supply site users with new experiences, operators need to keep abreast of these tech changes and be quick to implement them into their sites. If they fail to do so, then players may spend less time gambling online and look to other forms of gaming to stay entertained.
