ABSTRACT
This study is an attempt to understand the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, which essentially demands social distancing, on growing culture of eating out in consumers and determinants of food choices/ restaurant selection. The present study contributes to the changing sensory priorities and eating out habits due to the COVID-19 pandemic, using the data from frequent diners, academicians and industry practitioners. A sample of 304 respondents from Pune City and Mumbai MMR actively participated in an online survey. A random sampling method was used for this survey due to pandemic lockdown Major revolutions have been emerged in the dining habits of food lovers such as, zero touch points, contactless deliveries etc.‘Taste and flavor of the product’ was most preferable sensory priority for food selection before pandemic. However, this priority has been replaced by ‘hygiene, cleanliness, zero touch points and contactless order due to COVID-19 pandemic. Newly emerged most preferred food choice variables include touch less consumer experience, sanitized restaurants, food safety certifications, contactless order, health and hygiene. This indicates that restaurants need to reframe, restructure their SOPs and strategies to gain the confidence of the customers as COVID-19 may have a long-lasting effect and show repercussion in many more ways than thought.
ABSTRACT
Touchless Technology is facilitating the move to Zero User Interface(UI) propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic which has accelerated the use of this technology due to hygiene requirements. Zero UI can be defined as a controlled interface that enables user interaction with technology through voice, gestures, hand interaction, eye tracking, and biometrics such as facial recognition and contactless fingerprints. Smart devices, IoT sensors, smart appliances, smart TVs, smart assistants and consumer robotics are predominant examples of devices in which Zero UI is becoming increasingly adopted. These control interfaces include natural interaction modes such as voice or gestures. Touchscreens and shared devices such as kiosks, self-service counters and interactive displays are present in our everyday lives. Each of these interactions however is a concern for consumers in a post-COVID-19 world where hygiene is of utmost importance. The one-stop solution to hygienic interactions includes touchless technology such as voice control, remote mobile screen take over, biometric, and gesture control as Zero User interfaces. With the breakthroughs in image recognition and natural language processing, powered by advanced computer vision and machine learning, "Zero UI" is becoming a new normal. This paper is focusing on the progress of the touchless interaction technology during the COVID-19 pandemic, which actually accelerated development in this concept and moved it from being a luxury to a life necessity.