Nowadays, extended reality technologies are gaining popularity more and more. For example, in the past year, the largest market in Ireland became VR Hardware, in Finland – AR software and the generated revenue worldwide is expected to be $38.6 billion in 2024.
Last summer, the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference released the first spatial computer, Apple Vision Pro. The headset has impressed the public not only with its technical capabilities but also with the exorbitant price tag, which at the time of release was about $3,500. People have divided into two camps: those who are excited about the device and those who believe that cheaper analogues are no worse than the new product from Apple. Besides, gambling experts started guessing what the influence of Apple Vision Pro will be on the betting industry as the online casino industry worldwide keeps expanding. New casinos keep appearing, even in countries not famous for the gambling industry. For example, according to Statista, new Irish casino sites are expected to attract around 476 thousand users by 2028; in the Netherlands, the number of users will reach 1.4 million.
So, in this article, you will learn why Apple Vision Pro costs so much, what technological innovations it took to create the device and how it will change today’s gambling industry.
Apple Vision Pro – Jump into Immersed Reality
While Apple Vision Pro is visibly a headset, Apple avoids using this term, calling it a spatial computer. The company claims the difference between the new device and a simple headset already familiar to everyone is its ability to blend digital content with the physical world. The pricey novelty guarantees full access to your phone or computer apps without disconnecting from reality. Apple Vision Pro grants users unlimited working or entertaining space. Thanks to a micro-OLED display system that packs 23 million pixels in two postage stamp-size panels, the quality of your display is higher than a 4K TV. It also can transform any space you’re looking at into a 100 ft (1,200 in) wide screen. The Spatial Audio system affords personalised sound, provided by two dynamics that deliver sounds right to your ear. Moreover, there’s no need for any special controller. The three-dimensional interface corresponds to your eye movements, hand gestures and voice commands.
Additionally, Apple Vision Pro has advanced technologies for mapping your surroundings, which allows you to stay in touch with reality.
Opportunities for the Gambling Industry
The presented characteristics of Apple Vision Pro cannot but let the imagination run wild in the field of gaming. Imagine the opportunities the high-technological device presents: total immersion into augmented reality with spatial audio and hand control.
Obviously, the headset is unlikely to be available for everyone who reads this article. However, as soon as the price is affordable, we will witness the growth of immersive game development. So, what does it mean for online gambling?
In the early 2000s, gamblers all over the globe began to switch from real casinos to online ones, choosing to gamble from the comfort of their homes. Later, with the emergence of live casinos, accompanied by live video, the need for land-based casinos decreased even further. Now, think about Apple Vision Pro, which can render hyperrealistic visuals, making the virtual world look like reality.
Playing online casinos using the spatial computer pretty much means being in the casino:
- Realistic casino environment, having a casino table right in your kitchen or maybe placing betting on the holographic horses running the racecourse right in front of you
- Sound accompaniment, in addition to the previous point. Besides just seeing everything described, you can plunge into wherever you choose to be
- Social experience, while communicating with your opponents, being able to see, verbally talk to them and even read their tells!
Despite the bright picture every gambler has just imagined, there are drawbacks I should mention:
- The addictive effect of immersive gambling. It’s undeniable that betting is highly dangerous in terms of addiction, and the Apple Vision Pro technologies, at least for now, don’t have any regulations for the gambling industry. Therefore, losing track of time in the virtual casino will be extremely easy.
- Data security is another concern of using the headset for gambling. The device tracks your behaviour and personal data, which means that insufficiently reliable data storage will put your personal information at significant risk.
- Additionally, it’s worth noting that while Apple Vision Pro offers multiple opportunities for online gambling, Apple still prohibits real-money gambling apps on the App Store.
Summarising everything, I’d like to say that our time is a time of significant changes of the reality we used to know. The innovation of Apple Vision Pro not only raises questions about the future of online gambling but also the unsolved problem of personal data safety and casino addiction. So, for now, we can only wonder what the future of gambling will look like and what impact spatial computers will have on the industry.
