Your dining experience is changing. Thank restaurants using augmented and virtual reality

Imagine going to a restaurant and instead of asking the waiter what a certain dish like Poké means (I googled it too; it is a famous Hawaiian raw fish salad), you can see on your table what the dish looks like and then take the decision if you want to order it or not.  

The virtual reality(VR) and augmented reality(AR) industries are today worth more than 100 billion dollars and have revolutionized several industries. From healthcare sector to the social media world, it has shown its presence everywhere. 

The restaurant and hotel business, for example, is very lucrative and has a future that amalgamates with VR and AR. Several restaurant owners have started using VR and AR to engage with their customers and give them an experience to remember. 

Let's take some examples, but before that, watch this video: 

This video is from a New York-based Magnolia Bakery that has changed the experience for their customers for ordering a cake. They have deployed an AR technology that has enabled the bakery to present the cakes listed on their menu virtually. The visualisation is so real that it is difficult to differentiate between a real cake and the virtual one. Hence, customers can 'feel' every cake on the menu and order their perfect choice. 

Magnolia was one of the first restaurants to do so. Today, however, there are several new restaurants coming up using VR/AR not only in their menu but to change the experience of dining altogether. 

Some of them are: 

1. 19 Crime Wine: The 19 Crime Wine by the Treasury Wine Estates (based in Melbourne, Australia) makes the image from the bottle narrate a crime story to you. For doing that we need to download their app and scan the image from the wine bottle. 
    
2. The James Beard Foundation: A full seven-course meal is hosted by this organisation, in New York, however in virtual reality. So you cannot eat the food but feel them in all possible ways. (Not a nice way to spend 2000 dollars!) 
3. Robinsons Fruit Shoot: The restaurant has created an augmented reality (AR) experience that transforms the kids colouring menus into a variety of interactive games and puzzles. It is intended to keep the little ones entertained while you are waiting for your food. Several restaurant chains in the US,  including Harvester and Wimpy, offer this interactive restaurant menu.

   

4. Pizza Hut restaurant menu: Several branches of Pizza Hut offer the opportunity to browse their menu through AR. In fact, it allows you to scan the delivery box and then dive into the world of games and trivia. 
5. Le Petit Chef: This restaurant in the Philippines turns into a piece of digital theatre with a projected augmented story played out on the diner's plate (before the meal arrives). 
6. Patron Tequila: A luxury spirit brand based exclusively in the Highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. It provides 360-degree VR headsets to its customers so that they can visualise the entire making process of the products using the VR headsets.

Many restaurants in India, today, use QR codes which when scanned takes you directly to the restaurant's digital menu. (also an application of AR). 

How is it useful? 
Using VR and AR has several benefits for the restaurant's owners apart from making a comprehensive experience for the customers. It helps in: 

• Removing the language barrier with the customers 
• Engaging the customers into an immersive experience apart from just sitting in the restaurant and waiting for the order. 
• If talking in terms of numbers, the VR/AR industry itself is a big industry and many experts believe that it will continue to expand. 

Overall,  if the technology becomes more available and affordable, we are not far away from having a full 360-degree experience of exquisite dining which can evoke all our senses.