Multi-layer Displays Revolutionize Slots

A slick new type of 3-D multilayer LCD display designed for use by the military is now being adapted for use by the gaming industry with the hopes that it will revolutionize their slot machine business.

I think that these hi-tech slots are going to improve the odds for the already heavily favored $85 billion U.S. gambling industry.

The cool new displays, being developed by PureDepth, Inc., make slot machines seem more like a video game than a gambling device. With a large segment of the older generation already hooked on slot machines, it appears that these new machines are designed to lure younger gamblers away from table games such as Blackjack and Poker.

According to Gambling.com, approximately 80 to 85 percent of U.S. residents participate in some form of gambling at least once a year. This same report also indicates that approximately 2 to 3 percent of gamblers are considered to be compulsive gamblers.

Younger gamblers are almost guaranteed to boost these numbers as the gaming industry blurs the line between virtual games and the games that have real life consequences.

According to a study by Sanju George and Vijaya Murali called Pathological Gambling: An Overview of Assessment and Treatment, “Pathological gambling typically begins in early adolescence in males (later in females) and runs a chronic, progressive course, punctuated by periods of abstinence and relapses.”

Beware Gen-X, Gen-y, and everyone who is too young to remember when the Macarena was hip. The gaming industry has definitely got your number.

Despite my fear at the potential danger of these hi-tech slot machines, I am actually looking forward to seeing these new devices. New technology is always exciting, and the new multilayer display has the potential to revolutionize the way we currently look at images on the screen.

In addition to gaming and the military, PureDepth is also targeting cell phones, televisions, PCs, in-car navigation displays, and other hand-held devices. There is definitely the potential for great good to come of this new technology.

My advice to you, however, is that you keep the Gamblers Anonymous link handy if you run into these new displays in a casino and suddenly find yourself uncontrollably drawn to these hi-tech money pits.