Metaverse: What it means for restaurants
In 2030, the metaverse will be a new digital channel for restaurants to offer engaging, interactive experiences that boost brand awareness and customer experience. In the metaverse, customers can step into a virtual restaurant to browse menus, meet friends, and even order real food that will then be delivered to their door.
This is one of the key technologies that will shape the future of the fast food experience.
Opportunities in the Metaverse
In addition to expanding your brand’s footprint and awareness, restaurants can set up their digital version in such a way as to allow virtual customers to sign up for their loyalty programs. They can also offer unique dining experiences or the ability to purchase meals using NFTs. Avatars can even make a reservation or place an online order in the Metaverse and have it translated to the real world.
I know, somewhat confusing for those of us who are not so digitally inclined. Not all of us will make a name for our brand in the digital world, but for those that do, the digital frontier offers new and exciting opportunities.
“Now that we’ve established our presence on Roblox, we’re excited to continue activating on the platform and providing real value for Roblox users,” Chipotle’s Lieberman said. “Our presence on Roblox allows us to engage with our Gen Z … fans who are spending a lot of time on the platform.”
Creative Possibilities For The Restaurant Industry
• A Cooking Session With The Chef: Get rid of the language barriers, borders and questionable workshops. Cook like a real master of the culinary arts. This feature may be used not only to entertain customers but also to train restaurant employees.
• Culinary Arts Museum: Create your own culinary arts museum in augmented reality to share exciting stories and legends with your customers, let them see 3-D replicas of famous meals, interactive display items and much more.
Fine dining in virtual reality
Meanwhile, some high-end restaurants have begun exploring ways to take advantage of restaurants in the metaverse.
The Sublimotion restaurant, which opened in Ibiza, Spain in 2014, is the creation of Michelin two-star chef Paco Roncero. Diners wear Samsung VR headsets to experience Roncero preparing their meals. Dining is enjoyed in “capsules” that provide an immersive auditory and visual metaverse-like experience with different virtual locations, such as the bottom of the ocean or in outer space.
Restaurants and Virtual Reality
“Virtual reality dining is still a pricey novelty — costing as much as $2,000 — but it does have the potential to create a new kind of food experience.”10
Mark Zuckerberg presented a “feast for your eyes” presentation to explain how brands could use this method seamlessly into their restaurants. To expand, “feast for your eyes” allows diners to swipe through a VR menu, which allows diners to explore options such as discovering ingredients, and they are able to watch the preparation and cooking process of the menu items.11 Zuckerberg also claims that restaurants could even allow guests to order directly from the virtual menu while they dine-in or order for delivery.12
Restaurants can also include a world in Metaverse that allows their customers to experience the restaurant virtually with their friends, or potentially have a virtual reality date. This will give them the experience of a real restaurant while staying inside the comfort of their own homes.
FAQS
What is a Metaverse restaurant?
An avatar lives a virtual life in the Metaverse. This includes shopping, working, and eating. Real-world restaurant brands are establishing themselves in this digital world as the place to go for a bite or play a game. This experience in the virtual world can then translate to action in our physical world, driving purchases and brand awareness through the Metaverse.
Can we eat in the Metaverse?
No, people can’t, yet, eat food in the digital world. They can, however, order food that’s then delivered in the physical world. OneRare is working with chefs, restaurants, and popular cooking shows to mint NFTs for their dishes. Avatars can visit a virtual restaurant that offers signature celebrity chef dinners, shop at a virtual farmers market, and even make donations to a community fridge, all of which impact real life.
Can you taste in the Metaverse?
At the end of 2021, a Japanese professor, Homei Miyashita, developed Taste the TV (TTTV), a prototype for a TV screen with a disposable hygienic film that, when licked, imitates food flavors. Likewise, Vocktail is a virtual cocktail that tricks the senses and mimics flavors. So, the answer to whether we can taste food and drinks in the Metaverse is “someday.”