In the past few decades, casinos have transformed dramatically. Cavernous rooms filled with orderly rows of card tables, the soft clatter of chips and the jangle of slot machines gave way to aisles of flashy video slots invoking every element of pop culture. Soon, the eye-catching digital graphics, zany sound effects and interactive elements of more technically sophisticated machines became the draw for devoted and casual players alike. Now, casino technology has again leaped forward with a hybrid gaming and entertainment concept designed to attract a new generation of players.
In 2015, world-renowned gaming developer and supplier Interblock launched a partnership with Studio 37, a production and development company in Slovenia, to create an immersive multisensory gaming system called Pulse Arena. The idea was to create a fusion between standard gaming content and a wide range of multimedia solutions, including the integration of interactive features.
The Pulse Arena provides players with thematic options, multiple avenues of gaming and social media-based interactivity. Guests try their luck at individual play machines or engage in Arena-wide competitions, while DJs keep the music pumping, and performers dance and sing throughout the gaming area. Dealers, referred to as “animators,” participate in performances and act as hosts. All the while, vibrant graphics, player information displays, live streamed video content and real-time social media feeds fill the Arena’s LED video walls. Immersed in dynamic lighting, action and sound, players are meant to feel that they are part of the show and, hopefully, inclined to remain in the Pulse Arena for an extended period of time.
Using a controller and integrated automation system, the lighting, audio and video wall can easily switch between themes that appeal to different player groups, for daytime, night time, weekday and weekend atmospheres, and tournament functionality. Games are instantly swapped between dealer assist, automated and video modes. The Pulse Arena also offers a no-risk, no-wager education mode for newcomers and community play modes.
Similar to the retail store and entertainment venue trend of cultivating customer engagement with high production values and interactivity, these attributes have become selling points in attracting and retaining casino visitors. As casinos face fierce competition for entertainment dollars, providing an environment like the Pulse Arena is a well-calculated strategy to grow an audience of millennials that may be new to gaming and gravitates toward opportunities for social interaction.
To create an energized club-like environment with the Pulse Arena, Studio 37 and Interblock partnered with HARMAN Professional Solutions for installations at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, Greektown Casino in Detroit and the massive Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas. Deploying Martin lighting, JBL loudspeakers and subwoofers, Crown amplifiers, AKG microphones and BSS signal processing, Pulse Arena was able to create gaming environments with the hyper-sensory flash of high-end nightspots and VIP gaming rooms.
With elements developed for maximum engagement, the Pulse Arena’s AVL technology provides an immersive solution that speaks to both the millennial generation and experienced players seeking a heightened sense of excitement to enhance their casino experience.
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