What makes you eat more and what puts you off when you dine out? Is it the decor, lighting, music, ambiance, aroma or the service? Would it make a difference if the food came from a vending machine or if it was wrapped appealingly? Restaurants can give better service if they knew what ticks the clients and what puts them off.
‘Restaurant of the future’ at the Dutch university of Wageningen will soon have answers to these questions. This place is not the dining restaurant you normally visit. There are unobtrusive cameras placed all over the place which tracks every move of yours, from the way you walk-in to the way, you order and eat your meals.
This new facility boasts of glass walls, marble counter tops and bamboo flooring. The self-service tills allow diners to scan their lunch and the trays are weighed by a set of scales built into the floor. The researchers sitting in the control room can direct the cameras in the ceiling and zoom in on the plates of the individual diners watching what they order, how they eat and how much of food they throw away.
The ambiance is experimented every day by varying the noise, smells, furniture and food packaging. The color of the lighting is changed to check if it affects the diners. For example, the findings have depicted that blue lighting put most diners off and chairs with pink cushions are always occupied.
The facility has been developed at the cost of 3 million euros in partnership with Sodexho Alliance. Anyone who is interested in starting a restaurant can make use of this facility by creating the ambiance they wish to have before hand in this facility and gauge its effect on diners before implementing it practically.
If you are interested in dining at this place, you have to sign a consent form agreeing to be watched. Anyone interested?
