Podcasting

When you enter a restaurant, your senses are overwhelmed with the aroma's leaking out of the kitchen, the dim lights illuminating your table, the sounds of pots, pans and laughter... but most of all the taste of carefully prepared dishes touching your tongue. Restaurants have mastered the technique of marketing their restaurants on their websites, but they can't express how good their diners expirence really is unless you take the time to visit their establishment. So far, the leaders in the industry, such as Carrabba's, have utilized the technological advancements available to persuade guests into their dining rooms to learn more. Their most successful form of advertisements are their pod casting.


Carrabba's is just one example of a restaurant that is experimenting with transforming information in the real world into something that can be stored in a computer. This process requires digitization. For instance, in order to switch information from analog to digital, you need an ADC converter. The devices that take in a signal and create a real world experience via the Internet are called transducers. Presently, there are transducers for light, sound, and motion. Pod casting is an example of a transducer because you are able to speak into a microphone, then record your voice onto a computer in small segments, then edit that information how ever you'd like, then upload onto the web for others to hear.

As great as these advancements are, there is still room for more growth in the industry. There are no transducers for the sense of taste of touch. Perhaps this is because these senses are based on chemistry, and the different reactions that your body has. Software programs such as ZNose are still in development. Game controllers are getting closer with the sense of touch as they simulate the feeling of hitting a brick wall in Motor cross or Wii fit being the prime example.

If we could create the technology to have a transducer for the sense of taste, I can guarantee that there would be a huge impact on the restaurant industry. As well as uploading the menus to your businesses web site, how cool would it be to allow guests to sample each dish? I feel as though your revenue would reach exceptional rates with this advancement.

Regardless of our hopes for the future, it is imperative that restaurants remain open to the tools that we already have. Pod casting is a prime example of an underutilized tool that should be embraced by our industry. Try it out, it's simple!