We live in an age where technology is constantly advancing. The interesting thing is that what we see on the market or in commercials is only a portion of the tech that is currently in existence! Developers and scientists are always working behind the scenes on exciting things so exciting that we couldn’t possibly imagine!
Technology developments have come on thick and fast over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries: just think that 100 years ago, we had no televisions, cellphones, microwaves, computers, or even post-it notes!
Now that we do have computers, we are always on the lookout for the next improvement or development that will make the user experience more interesting, smoother, or more exciting. Computer gaming technology has advanced so much that we now game in almost completely immersive environments.
With VR and AR developing faster and faster, some gaming experiences will be entirely immersive, and we’ll be able to lose ourselves in fantastical worlds. Let’s take a look at nine of the most remarkable advances in computer gaming technology.
1. Voice Recognition
Imagine playing a game that didn’t involve any clicking or dragging: all you had to do was tell the game what you needed. With voice recognition tech, though it is not yet widely used. You can have that experience. You tell your character to jump, and they jump!
2. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
VR and AR are close cousins that are working together to turn our gaming experience into a completely immersive one. Virtual reality tech is already here, but as it’s still being refined in terms of the gadgets you need to operate it (gloves, headsets, etc), it’s not something everyone has access to.
Augmented reality is a little further behind, but we got our first widespread taste of it when Pokemon GO was released a few years ago. Imagine your “real world” is the scope for our games!
3. Facial Recognition
Now, we can not only play as a variety of characters, but we can use facial recognition tech to have avatars of ourselves inserted into our game worlds. Facial recognition is also an excellent way of preserving our privacy within games and ensuring that we alone have access to them.
4. Gesture Control
The gadgets that we mentioned in our section on VR and AR won’t be with us forever. Though gesture control is not currently used much in the public sector, gesture control in gaming will allow us to interact with the game world with no gloves at all! Think Minority Report for inspiration.
5. Next-Gen Graphics
Isn’t it crazy that 1080p is now considered slightly behind the times? 4k graphics are here, but they probably won’t stay for long. The quality of graphics in gaming is improving so fast that before we know it, we won’t be able to tell the difference between games and real life.
6. eSports and Streaming
Gaming is now a sector in which you can make a very good living in a number of ways: not only in development or animation but also as a professional gamer or a game streamer. Now that most gamers have access to at least medium-quality camera and microphone equipment, you can become a streamer if you feel you’d like to share your games or your opinions with fans or followers. If you are good enough, you can make living playing games in a professional team: most games have access to technology that will allow them to keep up.
7. Mobile Games
The level of technology in our smartphones these days is beyond amazing. We can order groceries or clothing, connect with friends across the world, learn a new language or play almost any game we like. Mobile gaming is now at the same level as PC or console gaming; there’s no doubt about it.
8. Cloud Gaming
Before too long, we might not need any physical gaming devices beyond the ones we need to see and interact with the game world. While cloud gaming is in its infancy, it is a technology that is growing very quickly and is sure to take hold in a more significant way in the near future.
9. Better Security
The more time we spend on the internet and the more internet-based services we use, the more information we provide to a number of places. The security of that information is paramount to avoiding hackers and keeping your personal data out of the wrong hands. The level of security rises with the level of threat, and in a world where technology and information are so readily available, the level of danger is higher than it has ever been. Cybersecurity is constantly evolving to keep up.
Wrap Up
That’s all about these 9 advances in gaming technology. Computer gaming technology has come so far in the last few years; who knows what we can expect from the next few? Well, all we can assume is it’s going to advance and improve even more in the near future!