For years, casino executives echoed the credo that producing a hit game, or a successful promotion, was more art than science.
That situation could be changing soon. And dramatically. At least that’s the view of two of the speakers presenting at the AGS GameON conference held this week in Southern California.
Craig Forest, an associate professor at Georgia Tech School of Mechanical Engineering, told an audience of around a hundred casino pros that ‘brain science’ may be the key in the future to building better games. And Aron Ezra, of NRT Sightline, said that promotional programs and incentives will soon have brains of their own, in a manner of speaking, which will allow those programs and incentives to evolve and flourish on their own. It might sound like science fiction for the next generation, but both men cited examples, already underway, that are producing results right now.
Forest showcased an array of techniques, from inserting glass tubes (pipettes) into individual animal brain cells to help our understanding of cranial processes, to more human-practical experiments with EEGs (electroencephalograms). These experiments are all designed to help understand the brain’s rewards circuits, which are activated in much the same way across species, whether an organism is seeking food, sex or good game play.
More traditional methods such as galvanic skin response (somewhat similar to lie detector technology), facial recognition, and eye movement tracking have already been used successfully to improve everything from interior design to magazine ads. And the next generation of research is even more promising. Forest noted that Dolby Labs now tests new products by having its test subjects wear EEG hoods that are embedded with dozens of tiny brain sensors. The subjects are then exposed to various speaker placements, types, amplifiers and sounds. Experts studying the resulting brain wave patterns in real-time can then use the data to produce the most desirable and pleasurable audio experience, which serves Dolby’s goal of building better sound systems.
AGS CEO David Lopez getting a real-time EEG brain wave analysis at the GameON conference at Pechanga Resort & Casino
So why not use these same techniques to build better slot machines? It may be happening soon. As part of his talk, Forest outfitted AGS CEO David Lopez with an EEG hood and had him play games on both an iPad and an Orion slot machine. The audience was able to see graphical changes on the overhead screen as Lopez experienced various visual and game play features. Such analysis of his and other subjects’ brain wave patterns may soon help game designers to learn which features, colors, sounds or other stimuli produce the best results.
In another presentation, the ‘brain’ was actually embedded in a promotional incentive. NRT’s Ezra, who recently sold his successful OfferCraft software firm, listed five ways to make casino incentives better. His first example was to use artificial intelligence embedded in the incentive itself to allow it to change and modify based on how a customer responds to an offer: for example, a $10 free play offer that was unused could transform itself to $20 in match play. Or it could offer more value. Or less. Or change timing or days. With each change, the incentive would re-evaluate response rates and actions of the player. By tracking these results automatically, but individually, each modification of an incentive could become more and more productive. And this would all be done with minimal labor and/or monitoring from staff.
Ezra’s four other keys to improving gaming incentives were:
- make them easier to view, track & redeem;
- make them more personal;
- make them more fun to use.
For this tip, he urged that we consider “gamification,” or making games of otherwise static rewards. He cited an unusual test in Sweden where authorities gave away tickets for those caught speeding by traffic cameras. The different element is that drivers going the exact posted speed were sent cash rewards instead of tickets. The results were dramatic, with major reductions in accidents and speeding seen. They had turned a former negative enforcement program into a positive, rewarding event. Unfortunately, it worked too well; costs quickly skyrocketed as drivers at the posted intersections all began going exactly the speed limit, busting the program’s budget.
His final tip was:
- incentivize your staff.
He said this latter tip was the most often overlooked element in promotions today, and urged marketers to find creative ways to get their teams energized about customer incentives.
The use of artificial intelligence in his first recommendation was the tip of the iceberg, Ezra said. He said that within 10 years, marketers might be using brain wave patterns to make incentives even better.
If he’d heard Forest’s earlier presentation, he’d realize that 10 years may just be tomorrow.
The GameON event began Tuesday morning and runs through Thursday afternoon at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. It marked the third such conference held by AGS for selected gaming executives. The earlier events were held in Miami, FL and National Harbor, MD respectively. Unlike some user group events, AGS has always received high praise for inviting interesting speakers from diverse non-gaming topics. This year’s conference covered topics from gene mutations, brain research, financial investments, product design, sports, even winemaking.
