Dan Burrus gets excited when he talks about a 3-D Internet experience. Not because he can’t wait to develop the technology, but because he has a prototype in his office already. No funky glasses, no need to relearn how to use the Web, just a world of opportunities awaiting the American public and, most importantly, your store. But 3-D Web browsers aren’t the only innovations Burrus says could revolutionize the quick-service industry. From robots in the back of the house to voice-recognition (that really works) in the drive-thru lane, Burrus predicts that the retail experience is in for some revolutionary changes in the next two years.

He knows all this because he’s one of the world’s leading technology forecasters, the author of six books, and one of The New York Times’ top-three business gurus. He is also founder and CEO of Burrus Technology, a consulting firm that monitors global technological advances. He recently disclosed with QSR how technological, social, and business forces will converge inside your store in the near future.

What do you think it will take for consumers to really dive into online ordering? That will become more popular because the Web is going to become 3-D fairly soon. We’ll have a 3-D Web browser, and how do I know that? I already have a prototype, so obviously, if I’ve already got one then we’re not that far from it, and you don’t have to wear 3-D or special glasses.

It’s really an interspatial 3-D, kind of like Xbox. It would be pretty easy for me to go to that restaurant and actually see the restaurant in high definition, it doesn’t have to be a crummy animation. I can zoom in on the foods that I want. I can see a chicken burrito. I’m actually looking at the chicken burrito as it should look.

Are you saying it would look like the video game The Sims, where you would actually have a true restaurant experience online? Right. In other words, branding can take place there because you’ve got the look and the feel. That’s what a brand is all about. I know what to expect.

So let’s say I’m thinking of ordering online and I’m going to drop by and pick it up, and I’ve never tried a certain chicken burrito. Well, managing customer expectations is important. I can see what it looks like and what the sides look like by going online. So then I can make a better decision as to what I want. It’s just an easy, “Yes, I want it.”

How do Web-enabled devices like Blackberrys play into this? Another thing that’s going to spur online ordering is the fact that our cell phones are becoming more and more intelligent and they’re becoming more browser-based. Look at the iPhone, it’s actually giving you a browser experience where you can make things bigger or smaller and so on. And that’s just the beginning. Remember, don’t think about what we’re doing a year or two or three from now based on the way things work today.

Think beyond that? Technology-driven change is accelerating at a vastly steeper rate than we’ve ever experienced before.

Can I get specific store experiences online? Or when I log in for my chicken burrito, is it always the same online store that I see? No, that’s very limited. Even though the McDonald’s brand is supposed to give you consistency, all McDonald’s don’t look the same. So I can actually see or get an experience of the McDonald’s unit I’m going to see. Because what do we want? We want to manage our customers’ expectations. We don’t want them to see an unbelievably fancy prototype store online and then have them go into one that’s 20 years old. Because again, it’s about getting what you expect, and then of course, as any good businessperson knows, you try to exceed expectation.