Fully-automated AI robot massage sessions are being piloted in US spas, involving machines that can scan and map human bodies before giving them a good rub-down.
The massage machines are made by the New York-based company Aescape, and are being piloted in some US branches of Life Time spas. Prices usually start at around $60 for a 30-minute session, which often works out slightly cheaper than a massage from a human.
Aescape’s machines feature two large arm-like robot appendages that wouldn’t look out of place perched on a factory production line. The bulbous ‘hands’ at the end of them are designed to replicate touch sensations from knuckles, thumbs, cupped hands, the ‘blade’ of a hand, palms, forearms and elbows.
Before each massage the machine, which utilizes AI, does a full body scan of the human seeking relaxation, to create a digital map of the body. The user presses a touch screen to select their massage settings, adjusting factors such as intensity. Then the massage commences, based on the digital scan.
If your body moves out of position during the massage, the machine will stop, and users can control the massage during the session using the touch screen.
Tory Van Oot, a writer with Axios, tried the robot masseuse out in Minnesota. “While the hands didn’t feel quite like the real thing,” she wrote, “they were remarkably human-like and warm.”
While there’s no suggestion that Aescape’s creations are in any way designed for sex acts, or even capable of giving sexual gratification, the rollouts will surely cause some ears to perk up in the sex robot industry.
Others might be concerned about their potential effects on human jobs. The art of massage is generally considered a very ‘human’ skill, but is AI going to trample over this job sector too?
Aescape said it was “not about replacing therapists”. Instead, the company argues that “it’s about enhancing their work and addressing the industry’s labor shortage. According to iSPA [the International Spa Association], the massage therapy industry faces a significant shortage of therapists (29,000 in the US alone), impacting access to massage services and revenue for wellness providers.”
While the company says that its products are designed to augment the life of massage therapists, there’s understandable nervousness around the potential for replacement.
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