Virtual Reality Casino: Close at Hand or Pipe Dream?

With Sony unveiling their latest virtual reality headset, some commentators have been revisiting the possibility of a VR casino. But how close is it to being a reality?

Project Morpheus. For the younger generation it may conjure up images of blue and red pills and Lawrence Fishburne, but it’s Ovid’s god of dreams that Sony were looking to for inspiration with their new headset.

It’s taken them long enough, too, with Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida revealing the tech giant had been working on the prototype for three years.

That’s right: it’s still a prototype, too, but one that has Playstation 4 fans drooling in anticipation. There is another group looking at this new gear with a different eye, too, and that group is online and mobile casino users.

Monte Carlo Casino in Dudley

For fans of casino games such as blackjack and roulette, technology has brought a whole new outlook to life. Gone are the long trips across the country to a suitable casino, their place taken by a virtual usurper.

Online casinos in the UK have been booming in recent times, with their mobile counterparts taking on the baton in the past year. Yet these casinos aren’t exactly the same experience as a trip to extravagant Monaco or Macau. Instead, you can sit on your bed, wearing nothing but a towel and click away all night, sipping lukewarm tea as you rake in the virtual chips.

So the possibility of a lifelike virtual casino must be a very attractive proposition. Instead of looking at yet another website, you could be transported to a replica of Monte Carlo, complete with tuxedos, designer dresses and live dealers ready to take your cash and turn it into virtual chips so real your pixilated self can hold them.

Yet how close can that dream possibly be? With a host of obstacles to overcome, surely it will take casino developers many years to get even a model of a virtual casino up and running, never mind a lifelike one.

Complete Virtual Casino

Yet there is already a completely virtual casino open for business on the web. With the help of Goo Technologies, OddsMatrix came up with CasinoFloor, a completely 3D casino experience right from your browser.

The History of Casino Gambling

• The first real casino was the Ridotto in Venice, which opened it’s doors in 1638

• The first online casino was InterCasino, set up in 1996

• The first mobile casinos opened in 2005

• The first Virtual Reality Casino?

While it may not be a VR casino, it gives players the ability to play casino games as if they were in a real, live casino, albeit a completely fabricated one. Yet while this is the only real money instance of an online casino you can walk through, there are plenty of other examples out there…

Social casinos have really taken off in recent times, see. With companies like Zynga branching out from their traditional sector and creating social mobile casino games for players to enjoy from their desk, bath or on the bus, there was bound to be something of a VR feel to the apps.

Indeed, you can generally walk around these casinos and interact with other players. Sure, it’s not real money, but you still get to walk around a casino while other players enjoy the various games or even the other entertainment on offer.

Yet it still doesn’t feel perfect. Sony’s latest gadget is just the latest in a line of VR headsets that could revolutionize play at online casinos in the UK, the US and beyond.

The Oculus Rift and Gambling

There is another option out there, though, for gamers looking for that rush without Sony’s influence. The Oculus Rift has had a big impact already, and is even available to buy for $300 (although they’re all sold out at the moment). Yet how would this work with a casino?

Well, judging from the reactions of the lovely grandma in the video below, it’d work very well! Just don’t be distracted from your game by the hot lady in the red dress at the next table: for all you know, she could be a double agent!

There’s even more, too, as you may even be able to walk around to each table, shake the dice and place your bets by hand in the near future!

Look out for the PrioVR exoskeleton, a rig that wraps your body and makes playing that next generation Oculus Rift games an all inclusive experience. But it’s not the latest first person shooter game that we’re interested in, no: it’s the ability to wager at a virtual reality casino from the comfort of your bedroom.

Suave, like Bond

So if you’ve ever dreamed of acting like James Bond and playing baccarat against the best in Monaco, then your chance could be on its way. No matter if you’ve not got the cash to afford Monte Carlo itself, perhaps a virtual casino could give you that chance.

With live dealer casinos gaining popularity every month and new mobile casinos taking advantage of HTML5 to offer professional dealers on the go, the appetite is certainly there for a more immersive casino experience. So what’s to say a big company won’t take advantage of the new technology and create something truly spectacular.

We can only hope.