Online gaming has certainly taken the world by storm. In fact, many different technologies have had a huge impact on the way people see the world today and one of those is artificial intelligence (AI). Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will have already often heard about AI and perhaps even used it before.
AI does not just mean that you engage with unattainably difficult pieces of software, quite the opposite actually, it’s actually being used in things that you use every day – writing, planning, shopping, browsing and even gaming. Focussing on the latter point, the merging of AI in gaming has created quite a stir. This article aims to shed light on the different ways AI has impacted the world of online gaming.
Look Forward to Tailored Experiences
One of the most crucial points of AI is the fact that it has allowed online gaming platforms to offer their players the most tailored experiences out there. In an industry that is fiercely competitive, being able to have a leg up on other platforms is crucial. Being able to offer exceptional and immersive experiences is beneficial for the platform and the player alike.
In fact, many scientists and researchers have spent a lot of time looking into the importance of tailored experiences in order to attract and retain online gamers. From the research they did, it is clear that online gaming sites need to do all they can in terms of offering unique experiences, as this is what gets the players interested in the game in the first place.
You see, the rise of AI is not only important for platforms but for the players themselves. Have you ever logged onto a game and felt excited to start but then felt rather bored after a few sessions? Yes? Well, then you’re in luck because AI is meant to make your online gaming experiences better and most importantly – tailored. When you log into a game, you want the game to think for and with you. If you beat the game at a level or figure something out that was tough at first, you’re thrilled but after a while, you just feel like you’ve beaten the system. Therefore, having games that think with you is vital and this is where AI comes into play in the digital world.
With AI, games are able to learn on the job. If an AI program sees that a player is doing the same things to win, the game powered by AI will be able to intervene and perhaps put up a bit of a roadblock, to ensure that you as the player, are as challenged as possible. AI does not need to always step in to make a game more challenging for a player, it can also step in to make sure that you, as a player, feel as supported as possible. If a game learns that thirty minutes into every game, you like to make use of special gems or features in the game, it can either offer a helpful reminder to use these, thus creating a tailored system.
Immersive Experiences At Front and Centre
Another area in which AI truly shines is when it comes to offering immersive experiences, moments that make you feel as though you are being sucked into the game. Under AI, categories such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) also form part. These two pieces of software have also truly offered up quite the changes.
AR forms the base on which VR often stands. Through AR, online games can offer you a far more immersive experience. With AR, you are able to incorporate gaming actions, sounds and features far more than ever before. You might have already noticed this in your day-to-day life, where you can go onto a website, even one that is not a gaming site and you can see the 3D version of a table for example, move it around and even put it in your living room by switching your camera on to see if it matches, this is a practical example of AR in the real world.
Just think about VR, now think about the VR headsets that you have surely heard of. These pieces of tech allow you, as a player, to be transported into another world. With a VR headset, you can pop that on and then be transported into a completely different world, one where you are virtually actually online playing with people, creating the perfect simulation. For example, say you’re into NBA 2K and you enjoy using the consoles to play but actually immersing yourself into the game through a VR headset is next-level excitement.
Looking to the Future of Tech
You might argue that the world is already living in the world of the future, as technology is everywhere you go and extremely advanced, however, many researchers believe that this is only getting started. It is said that up until around 2018, the world was living through the fourth industrial revolution, whereby AI and robots cropped up. However, since then, the world has actually moved through its fifth revolution, in which human actions and technology are far more merged than ever before. There is a link between tech and human behaviour which is already clear to see with games.
Rockies Ripple is the founder and lead writer behind the independent blog tvplutos.com