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Lead the Gaming Industry’s Transformation With AI

By August 22, 2022August 24th, 2022No Comments
Ensure Responsible Gaming, Enable Omnichannel Journeys, and Decrease Onboarding Friction

By Shaun Moore, Chief AI Officer and SVP Access Markets, Pangiam

An exploding gaming market means greater challenges for owners and operators, particularly when it comes to promoting responsible gaming. When we say “responsible gaming,” we mean that gamers are aware of their personal situation and able to manage their own level of risk and associated behavior. As one of the world’s largest sports betting and gaming groups defines it, responsible gaming supports the three core principles of integrity, fairness, and reliability with an overarching goal of preventing game-related problems from arising.

Part of responsible gaming includes the ability to enforce product or venue age restrictions, as well as prohibit individuals who have a self-declared gambling addiction from entering a facility or playing online. The cost of non-compliance in these areas can be severe for both the industry and the individuals. Of course, responsible gaming also spans the mobile environment too, which includes ensuring parents can monitor and manage their children’s in-app purchases and game time.

Both land-based and iGaming operators can rely on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, like facial recognition or age verification, that are more effective and accurate than current standards, and which can be deployed to support a range of initiatives, such as:

1. Responsible gaming efforts, including addiction prevention and problem gambling identification.

To support responsible gaming, persons who have added themselves to the self-exclusion list but who attempt to enter a casino or participate in online or mobile wagering can still be identified, in real-time, anonymously utilizing technology to enforce their self-exclusion option.

2. Omnichannel player recognition which ties individuals from iGaming to land-based operations.

Registered and VIP players can be enrolled on the go, through a mobile solution, then authenticated quickly and easily at self-service and counter terminals, including for digital casino games and sports betting, to create an elevated guest experience. With an omnichannel solution, players can take advantage of loyalty rewards and benefits by simply using their face.

3. Age verification at self-service, terminals, and VIP recognition.

Self-service kiosks are becoming more prevalent across the gaming industry from slot machines and loyalty programs to automated teller machines and guest services. Technology can be a tool to streamline VIP recognition and to help enforce age verification of individuals at these self-service units or counter terminals where monitoring is difficult. Age verification can also be done without facial recognition to ensure anonymity and user privacy.

4. “Pay with your face” capabilities.

Throughout a venue and across a variety of touchpoints, like concessions and food services, patrons can choose to use facial recognition capabilities to pay for food, drinks, and merchandise. As a true omnichannel solution, customers can utilize ‘pay with your face’ to purchase drinks or top-up in-game.

5. Associate or clerk log-in.

At terminals, game tables, and registers, employee identification and credentials can be verified using facial recognition technologies. This boosts security, streamlines shift changes, and makes operations more efficient.

Beyond responsible gaming, facial recognition offers tremendous operational benefits. For land-based gaming and casinos, computer vision can provide dwell time metrics, so that operators can analyze footfall traffic and see exactly how and where people move (or linger) within a venue at any given time. Such insights help with inventory modeling, cash flow predictions, staffing schedules, and operational decisions. For integrated operations, such as resort and casino properties, facial recognition can provide a secure solution for guests or employees to access restricted facilities and various amenities rather than carrying around a key card. For online operators, facial recognition can preserve game integrity, reduce the risk of fraud, and eliminate multi-player identity problems and de-duplication.

As the gaming industry continues to explode, so too will the importance, magnitude, and scope of responsible gaming as a practice. Facial recognition technologies offer a way for gaming operators to improve the player experience, meet regulatory requirements, protect against identity theft and fraud, and benefit the business.

For any questions, please contact smoore@pangiam.com