Many diners love hearing the words, “Would you like to see the dessert menu?” Both server and restaurant owners love it when customers answer in the affirmative.
Desserts look tempting enough on paper, but imagine how much more restaurants could boost food and beverage sales by providing customers with an immersive augmented reality (AR) experience that engages, entertains, and entices their customers to order!
Upcoming Media Inc. is happy to be launching a new technology called AR Gourmet Dessert, which allows people to experience your delicacies on their smartphones. Not only will this mobile technology give diners a stunning 3D rendering of enticing menu items, but also provide them with nutritional value and elevate their awareness of food as an art form.
AR technology can also be used in many other areas of the food and beverage industry, from education and training to food prep and ordering. In most cases, it can be done with a scan and a click on your smartphone. It’s as easy as apple pie!
AR Helps People Make Better Food Choices
Making the right food choice can be hard when dining out. You might be following a meal plan or have dietary restrictions, but without the right information you might order something that prevents you from reaching your health goals.
Restaurants, diners, and even grocery stores can now offer AR experiences that empower people to make eating decisions that align with their personal nutritive goals. By simply pointing their smartphone camera at a product or menu listing, consumers will be able to quickly read brand stories, ingredient lists, nutritional data, and allergy warnings. Customers can also swipe for a full 360° view of the menu item, and “place” it on their table.
AR offers your customers their best chance to get up close and personal with each menu item prior to ordering, whether they’re sitting in your restaurant or at home deciding which meal they’d like to order for delivery.
Having such close interaction with your menu items will also help foodies truly appreciate the art that goes into food prep and presentation, and give them the opportunity to build their own customized artistic edibles, such as wedding cakes and premium desserts.
Most of all, using AR demonstrates your willingness to engage, inform, and entertain your customers, who can now order with confidence, and even interact with new food items.
Using AR to Teach Tomorrow’s Culinary Masters
Training future chefs gets a lot easier with AR headsets that allow the teacher to watch through the student’s eyes as they prepare a dish. Teachers can give notes, offer advice, answer questions, and critique food preparation, cooking, and plating without even being in the room. It’s almost like having Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen, only more polite!
The AR software can also produce amazing 3D graphic examples that can be reviewed on demand, reducing food waste.
In Japan, researchers are working on an AR smart kitchen that uses mounted cameras and projectors to display cooking instructions right in your food preparation workspace. The smart kitchen projectors have the capability to show cut lines on a fish you want to filet, giving even the novice cook a leg up in gourmet meal preparation. A small countertop robot named Phyno will help guide you through the recipe, keeping you on track and doing steps in the correct order.
Using Social Media to Enhance the Food Shopping Experience
Social media tech giants Facebook and Snapchat both offer AR experiences that allow food and beverage brands to engage and educate their consumers simply by launching their social media apps and using their in-phone camera.
Users can click-thru Facebook marketing ads to enjoy AR experiences that will help them prepare a special dinner menu, see how the prepared dishes look on their table, or match place settings. This technology can also collect customer data, allowing the brand to re-engage with the user at a later time.
Upcoming Media can produce Snapchat codes on specifically-marked menu items, which allows users to “place” food on the table before they order. They can expand the 3D images for closer inspection, and even compare the photo to the real thing once it arrives at the table.
Of course, all AR experiences are completely shareable, which creates instant brand advocates of your customers as they spread your experiences to their networks.
As an official Facebook and Snapchat partner, Upcoming Media can create any AR experience for use within Facebook or Snapchat, or as a standalone app. Ask us for a demonstration of our new AR Gourmet Dessert, or talk to us today about how we can use AR to further elevate your brand.
Customized AR Solutions in Toronto, Canada, and Around the World
Have a specialized need that will enhance your customer experience through AR technology? Talk to us! Upcoming Media can help bring your concept to life from the initial design and build stages right up through launch day. No matter how complex your idea, our development team has the experience to use AR technology to build interactive solutions that your customers will love. Connect with us at contact@upcomingmedia.com for more information!
