CR65-p46-ICE 16:SJC-Casino Review 16/2/08 23:22 Page 1
casinoreview
ICE2008 REPORT
Glitzy new ideas for the highest and latest technologies were being shown by relative
newcomer to the show, Group Tranchant and its many offspring companies. Using its
operational experience, it has found some intriguing new applications.
Technology arrays
Tranchant stand
General manager of game design for Ainsworth, Jason Meyer,
with the new Multi-Play game packages launched at ICE
fingeronthepulse also allows the administrator to
TRANCHANT GROUP group employees, doors, zones,
The need for speed
even sites according to almost
As a company that operates any parameters required, while
casinos as well as supplies casino also monitoring in real time and fasterhotter Another member of the
equipment, the Tranchant Group offering full reporting functions. AINSWORTH Game Plus family is the enjoy-
rather fancies that it knows what The security application is an able Hot Reels, which adds an
managers at the sharp end are obvious one. Another application There seems to be a new burst extra reel to the screen during
really looking for from new tech- on show that caught several of energy at Ainsworth in recent bonus play, giving extra multi-
nology; what that means is prod- people’s imagination was the months, as flexible new prod- pliers on the base game,
ucts that are useful, intuitive, Finger Credit Transfer from sister ucts with plenty of player and increasing for example five-of-
economical and a natural fit to company TGT, a cashless system operator appeal are now a-kind wins to six-of-a-kind
operations. based entirely on fingerprint making their way to market. wins, additional free games
What that doesn’t mean is con- recognition, eliminating tickets In addition to some enjoy- and other features.
servatism, as the company was and printers from slot machines, able new games, the Showing for the first time
showing some of the most excit- doing away with any need for company has developed a at ICE were two Multi-Play
ing products on any stand at ICE. loyalty or cash cards. Players go range of jackpots and bonus- game packages, a proven
Chief among them were appli- to a kiosk where, using the same ing systems that overlay the popular format, with five
cations for biometric technol- fingerprint sensor technology, standard games on its Game brand new games in each
ogy, including fingerprints and they can ‘load’ their fingers with Plus platform. one. “They each have a dif-
face recognition, offered by Tran- credit as required. They can then For example, Jackpot ferent balance of features
chant subsidiary Zalix Biometrie. go to slot machines have their Kingdom is a four-level pro- and different styles of games
The most obvious use is in ensur- prints scanned by the entirely gressive jackpot: “It hits fre- and bonuses,” said Meyer.
ing security for sensitive areas of retrofittable sensors on the quently keeping player interest Meyer believes that the
the casino where access needs to button panel and load their credit high,” said Ainsworth’s new platforms and game
be restricted to authorised staff. on to the game. When they want general manager for game styles developed by
The simplest system uses finger- to stop playing, simply pressing design, Jason Meyer. “It will Ainsworth are responding to
print recognition to unlock the cash-out button and confirm-
The Finger Credit Transfer system by TGT (top). The amazing
link to as many machines as a new global trend.
doors, eliminating the need for ing the fingerprint will down- Alioscopy 3D display screen (above) you like and comes with He said: “Because smoking
keys, cards or badges. Staff who load the credit to an individual signage, or you can get your is being taken off so many
need to be authorised have their account. They can then move to to 12 recognitions per second, The screen is already being used own, it’s entirely up to you.” gaming floors, those who do
fingerprints scanned: the sensors another machine to go to a kiosk offering an unobtrusive and sen- in displays, notably by Aristocrat A symbol-driven jackpot, its smoke are spending less time
bounce radio frequencies off the or the cage to get their cash. sitive way, for example, to on its next generation Cash prize levels are configurable at machines. In order to main-
finger’s ridge patterns and Players can use the system monitor entry to the gaming Express multi-level mystery with certain ranges. The jackpot tain interest, therefore, bonuses
convert the data through an algo- anonymously up to 1,000, after floor, ensuring that those who jackpot. A larger version than the is won during respin bonus need to come quicker, some-
rithm into a unique number that which they must register their have been barred are picked up. current 40-inch screen is cur- games, up to five: players lucky thing that is at the core of our
is then stored in a database. When details. The system is simple, In addition to the range of tra- rently under development. enough to see six lion symbols product strategy with Game
employees want to gain access to elegant and entirely secure. As ditional gaming tables and elec- “We want to demonstrate to appear win the grand jackpot, Plus. So we are bringing up the
an area, they have their finger- people get used to more biomet- tronic roulette machines offered the gaming industry that we offer with five, four and three lions frequency of win hits and
prints scanned again by the door- rics in their daily transactions, by Caro subsidiary, another sub- a 360-degree solution,” said mar- attracting the lower prizes. spreading the prizes more too.”
lock sensor, which compares its player acceptance will undoubt- sidiary, Alioscopy, was showing keting manager Katia Kaupp
results with the database check- edly rise. its remarkable display screen Monnier. “All the companies
ing to see whether the employee Zalix also supplies face recog- which gives one of the best three- within the group are working
has the right to enter. nition technology, which maps dimensional imaging experi- together to simplify things for
The system is entirely config- and measures facial features, ences around. The technology casino operations, whether they
MEI
records its location. The infor-
mation is reconciled at the soft
urable to deny entry outside spe- again passing them through an gives not only a real perception be our own or someone else’s.
cific time slots, for example, algorithm to store a unique of depth in the image but also We manufacture or distribute
helps to
count stage using a simple
reader which immediately flags
scheduled shifts, through Zalix’s number string. The sensors work allows the image to appear to almost everything a casino needs
Biomaccess system. Biomaccess incredibly quickly, allowing ten pop out in front of the screen. to operate, a real one-stop shop.”
track
any ‘hot boxes’ that have been
missing, installed for example in
the cash
other machines in error.
“We’re getting a lot of inter-
est in Europe for EasiTrax,” said
River of change at
radioheads Mark Greenawalt, European
MEI gaming director.“This is a pr oven
system in both the US and Macau
the poker tables
The RFID-enabled cashbox and its simplicity and adaptabil-
tracking system EasiTrax from ity are major selling points.”
MEI made its European debut at And, says Greenawalt, it’s not
ICE. Using RFID tags on cash- just a product for large opera-
fullhouse ing and verification of RFID-enabled chips boxes, the product helps opera- tions. “I don’t think scope and
ABBIATI and pot totals. Giorgio Abbiati, managing tors keep track of them and scale are an issue. The benefits
director of the Abbiati, said that casino makes sure they are properly are there for all casinos of all
One of the most exciting applications for operators also wanted flexibility: “The
The 13.56MHz RFID-enabled
and swiftly accounted for. sizes. It’s a reporting tool about
RFID technology is on poker tables, Texas Hold’em poker table we are
poker table, a prototype venture
Each cashbox is retrofitted the cash in the box and as the
where the speed of pot calculation can showing at ICE has three separate pot between Abbiati and PGIC with a 13.56MHz RFID tag, number of slot machines in Euro-
directly affect profitability of a table for areas which allows all or any one, to be which together with an antenna pean casinos grows it will
the operator: if the casinos earns a per- used for calculation of the pot and game.” board installed in the validator become even more useful.”
centage rake, the more there are per Iain London, PGIC’s director of interna- stand. There was a also a range of value
hour, the better the result. tional business development, added: “The chips and plaques with embedded tags that
The high frequency 13.56MHz RFID speed an accuracy with which the were being used to demonstrate PGIC’s
technology embraced by Progressive 13.56MHz technology operates allows us Chip Inventory System, which verifies and
Gaming International (PGIC) has now to help casinos improve their performance shows all chip movements in real time, from
been used in a poker table developed by in mission critical areas such as game vault to cage to table to chip tray.
luxury table manufacturer Abbiati. speed. For an industry where time is London added: “When we coupled
The prototype on display at ICE is a money, being able to increase the number rapid adoption of our RFID technology
response, says the company, to increas- of hands played per hour is a huge benefit.” with the ever growing poker market, this
ing customer demand for a high frequency The poker table was just one of the RFID- was a natural step in the enhancement
RFID poker table that allows for full audit- enabled products on display on the Abbiati of the product range.” European gaming director Mark Greenawalt
46 March 2008 ice2008report
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