The development of Augmented Reality (AR) has allowed many different types of businesses to expand their operations while simultaneously reducing the amount of money and other resources they need to invest. The restaurant business is one of the industries with a significant opportunity for Augmented and Virtual Reality.
Hotels and restaurants have historically been the most lucrative enterprises; hence, there is a massive possibility for businesses to make the most of this rich industry. Many large and well-known brands operating in the food and beverage industries use AR technology to improve their food presentation, marketing, and relationship with customers.
Augmented Reality Applications in Restaurants
Businesses can integrate Augmented Reality into almost anything in their operations and marketing to improve overall customer experience and improve service. Some of the ways restaurants use Augmented Reality are the following:
- Customer-Focused Applications
Customers can use restaurant apps to find out more about the cuisine they prefer and to reserve a spot. Apps offering virtual reality restaurant services can typically be downloaded straight from the relevant app store by customers interested in purchasing them.
- Internal Engagement and Entertainment Applications
While one person is in an augmented or virtual reality restaurant, the other can look over the menu and place an order. Users can have fun with various games and other entertainment-based activities as they wait for the food.
- Utility Applications
These applications can assist staff members in taking orders and delivering meals at the appropriate time and to the appropriate table. Additionally, other augmented reality features may fit into the restaurant staff training programs, such as those for cooks and new employees.
How are restaurants using Augmented Reality to their advantage?
- The restaurant industry is one of the few that will never decline because people will always try good food.
- Culture, lifestyle, and technology are changing how restaurants work. Quality is important in restaurants, but so is the experience.
- Any restaurant can afford augmented reality. AR can be implemented on menu cards by restaurants.
- Augmented Reality (AR) can also help visitors understand size and quantity. AR can also remove obstacles so visitors can try new things without being surprised.
What are the various Augmented Reality examples in a restaurant?
Augmented Reality (AR) integration into restaurants is a creative implementation that only some businesses have adopted. Restaurants and food brands can thus adopt AR to project themselves modern and ahead, accomplishing targets and differentiating themselves from their rivals. It doesn’t matter if they are for in-person dining, takeout, or both. This innovative technique is helpful for eateries of all kinds.
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Creating Augmented Reality Menus to ease placing orders
Augmented reality restaurant menus can depict dishes more vividly than static ones, which may encourage customers to place orders. Unlike traditional menus, augmented reality menus let customers view every aspect of a dish, including the texture of the items used, the quantity of the portions, and other details like ingredients.
Let us look at how the Mexican restaurant Wahaca integrated AR to transform customer interaction with the food menu to boost orders.
Wahaca was the first restaurant in the UK to introduce an AR menu. It improved its physical menus by adding a QR code that launches an augmented reality (AR) experience when scanned with a smartphone. Customers could view extra information, such as photographs and descriptions of dishes, as well as information on ingredients, allergens, and sustainability practices. Due to Web AR technology, customers need not download any unique apps to view the menu.
In addition to boosting customer confidence in their orders, this additional information reduces contact because customers are less likely to need to inquire about the meals from the staff. Additionally, a digital payment system integrated with the AR menu enables contactless payment right from the customer’s table, improving convenience and security throughout the entire process.
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Chef Training to accelerate food preparation and boost productivity
A growing number of companies are using augmented Reality (AR) to train staff members who work in the food service sector since it enables side-by-side training and can layer additional information on top of what an employee can directly see. The research found that it takes fast-food employees an average of 296 hours of training before they are ready to work at the back of the house. Employees commit several errors at these times, which can lower customer satisfaction and eventually hurt a restaurant’s bottom line. The high turnover rate in this industry makes the situation worse.
AR training courses can assist in resolving these problems. According to the study, for instance, an employee in charge of making hamburgers wearing AR glasses would be alerted right away when a customer places an order and could start making hamburgers using one of three triggers:
- Speech-to-text (voice commands)
- Exact head gestures
- Marker-based object detection (two markers, “PLAY” and “REPEAT,” placed on the employee’s gloves)
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Adding Entertainment factor to engage customers
While in the past, restaurants had to use coloring books for kids and arcade games for adults to keep customers occupied, today, eateries can create that “wow” effect with AR.
For instance, a few years back, the Italian eatery PizzaExpress added an augmented reality (AR) element to its smartphone to allow customers to play a 60-second football game while waiting for their pizza. Similar to how Robinsons Fruit Shoot, a well-known soft drink company in the UK, used augmented reality entertainment to turn kids’ coloring placemats at several restaurants around the nation into interactive games, seeing this as a perfect opportunity to market their product. Even fast-food establishments can benefit from AR. Earlier this year, Pizza Hut, an American restaurant company, collaborated with Pac-Man to produce a limited-edition pizza box that used Augmented Reality to bring the classic game to life. Users could tumble into a nostalgia rabbit hole by scanning the package’s QR code.
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Launching new food items-
AR product introductions may be a fantastic way to excite consumers and attract their attention to restaurants. While diners are physically waiting in a restaurant for their friends to arrive or for their meal to be prepared, they can now virtually explore different environments. These launches allow diners to learn about new products in novel and creative ways.
The augmented reality (AR) experience that Jack Daniels created to promote their collaboration with the Slug and Lettuce restaurant chain in the United Kingdom is an amazing example of an augmented reality product launch that kept customers from becoming bored. The WebAR experience will be active by scanning a QR code for each glass of Lynchburg Lemonade.
The customers were then virtually transported to the distillery of Jack Daniels in Lynchburg, Tennessee, where they could walk around, learn about whisky manufacturing, and even dress up as the brand’s founder, Jasper Newton, “Jack” Daniel.
Key Takeaway
Restaurants are eager to adopt the trends their customers want, and Augmented Reality is undoubtedly the trend that will make the most splash in the future. It is an effective method of marketing that fosters the maximum amount of interaction possible between the brand and the customer. As a direct consequence, customers stand to benefit, and restaurants stand to profit. If you are considering integrating augmented reality technology into your restaurant, a no-code platform like PlugXR can be the go-to option where you don’t need genius coders but can do it independently. When you don’t have to invest much time and money in setting up a technical team, it’s a win-win for everyone involved.