How augmented and virtual reality will reshape the food industry
Augmented reality content can be found on everything from wine bottles to IKEA’s catalog and virtual reality experiences are much more detailed, with rich layers of interactivity from hand controllers to gaze triggers,
and a VR film has even won an Oscar. With Apple and Google both debuting augmented reality platforms (ARKit and ARCore, respectively), Facebook heavily invested in its Oculus headset and >Amazon unveiling augmented shopping features, AR and VR is primed to change many parts of our everyday lives.
Within the food industry, AR and VR have also begun to make headway. Although development costs are still high, more and more F&B businesses are beginning to realize the potential of AR/VR and see it as a worthwhile investment. Three main areas – human resources, customer experiences, food products – have seen the most concentration of AR/VR development so far and will likely continue to push the envelope on what use cases AR & VR have within the industry.
Streamlining Employee Training
One of the most tangible payoffs of AR/VR technology is using it for consistent and thorough employee training. The current process of developing training materials can not only be costly, but also vary in quality by team, store, or region. Many times, human resources face the conundrum of choosing between low-touch, high-efficiency (i.e. mass group workshops with the potential downside of low retention and lackluster individualized learning) or high-touch, high-cost (i.e. small group sessions with in-store, real-time training).
These new possibilities for learning and development for businesses small and large not only increase the effectiveness of training material, but also allow companies to employ a wider breadth of workers with different needs and learning styles. As headsets begin to decrease in price and more developers pour into AR/VR, it’s likely more and more companies will begin to trial and A/B test these new learning platforms. Perhaps one day, we’ll even view former mass conference workshops with the same nostalgia as the milk delivery man.
Creating Wonder in the Customer Experience
“Experiential marketing” has fundamentally changed the purpose and construction of food and hospitality driven events. Millennials especially view experiences as a means of social capital, and sharing their attendance and participation at an en vogue experience is an important piece of their curated social identities. The success of events such as the Museum of Ice Cream and 29 Rooms have convinced many brands – Grey Goose, Red Bull, Zappos, to name a few – to begin reallocating advertising dollars to experiences and sponsorships.
If the last few years are any indication, even more futuristic applications of AR/VR are soon to come. Visual enjoyment is a major part of any eating and drinking experience and brands have come to embrace virtual overlays – whether immersed in VR or augmented in AR – as a way to educate, inspire, and prompt consumers to action. In one extreme scenario, like the world
Project Nourish paints, we could all be eating and sensing two entirely different things!
Adding Interactivity to Products
Since Bill Gates’ famous 1996 essay, the adage “content is king” has been echoed and taken to heart by companies large and small. In recent years, the rise of platforms such and Instagram and Pinterest – and the social influencers and blogger celebrities it has created – have shown even more clearly that engaging with consumers digitally result in real action. Products and retail locations may still be static, but its content must extend beyond physical space to attract the attention of potential and returning buyers.
As consumers become more comfortable with AR, its presence will become a more continuous expectation. Instagram’s rise to prominence resulted in an entire industry of specialists across the world, allowing for mass adoption for even small businesses. AR is at the base of the same mountain; big brands are already repeatedly using AR outreach, but it still needs momentum from creators, developers and marketers to make it accessible for anyone and everyone.