massage, robotic, AI, wellness, spa,

Robots are capable of making vehicles, packaging merchandise and lifting heavy items. Now add giving massages to the list. Imagine walking into a spa where, instead of a massage therapist greeting you, sleek robotic arms await your arrival, capable of kneading away stress and tight muscles to leave you relaxed and soothed. And by the way, their touch is warm.

AI robotic massage tables may just be the next evolution in the tech-driven relaxation wave that started with therapy guns and massage chairs. The handheld massage guns brought targeted relief with rapid pulses, while recliner-style massage chairs gave us a taste of full-body tension release, both popular alternatives to the traditional hands-on massage. But AI robotic massage tables take things to a whole new level, offering personalized precision, in a setting that is more suitable for those who don’t feel at ease in various states of undress before a total stranger, or folks who want to have more control to the pressure applied on their body during traditional massages. The machines are “trained by massage therapists” and designed to be self-service, and every time a person visits, it learns from the individual’s feedback and continually adjusts the massage.

There are a growing number of businesses that are offering the service, such as Aescape, based in New York City and CAPSIX Robotics, based in Lyon, France. Their models are capable of mapping the clients body through an infrared scanner that takes a 3-D image. The AI wizardry utilizes anatomical calibrations, interpolated paths with X and Y coordinates, and the client’s preferences to program the massage.

With the Aescape model, the client wears a special body suit that works with the “end effectors” or the palm-like touch points, at the end of the robotic arms. The touch points can rotate and shift to adjust to the area of the body, and they emit warmth. The body suit is dark gray and fits like a mashup between yoga wear and a wet suit, and is designed to reduce friction to allow for smoother movement. The robotic arms are capable of extending from the shoulders to the calves. The client even has the ability to make voice commands in real-time to guide the arms, such as when the end effectors glide over a particularly tight region of the back, the client can tell the robotic arm to stop and go over the area again. The touch points are asymmetric, giving the feel of a palm, or elbow or forearm compression depending on the angle.

Aescape CEO Eric Litman said that when he first started to conceptualize the robotic massage arms, he talked with other hardware entrepreneurs and people in robotics, and he got a lot of opinions, most of them discouraging because of the limitations of technology at the time, in 2017. But as AI and robotics improved, and after 18 months of engineering, his company homed in on a better product.

“I think we’ve built one of the very first products that is going to democratize wellness services and really bring the idea of preventative care front and center in people’s lives,” Mr. Litman said.

The entire massage is performed face-down. There is a touchscreen located at the bottom of the table, where the face fits through the circular padded rest, and the client can adjust the massage from that device, or if he or she chooses, can pick a relaxing video with calming sound, of a beautiful mountain scape or other scenery.

While some clients may be concerned with a machine uploading their body shape, or may be worried that the robotic arms could go haywire and crush them, the makers guarantee that the scan remains private, and that the machine is programmed to not exceed a specific amount of pressure. The Aescape model and the CAPSIX model come with an emergency shutoff that is within the client’s reach during the massage.

CAPSIX also uses a 3D scanner that sees the “morphology” of the user, said Francois Eyssautier, CEO. CAPSIX Robotics AI robotic massaging arm is named iYU, and was on display at the CES 2024 technology show in Las Vegas. iYU’s touch pad resembles a small foot, but without toes, adorned with a fitted “slipper.”  The company is based in Lyon, France.

“Artificial intelligence is very important for us, we have a PhD thesis of artificial intelligence among our founders, and we think this is very important to give very personalized massage” Mr. Eyssautier said during a demonstration of iYU at the show. He is a robotics engineer. His wife, Carole Eyssautier, has a doctorate degree in Computer Science. A third partner in the company, Stephane Rollet, is a masseuse and physiotherapist.

Mr. Eyssautier said iYU’s movements replicate those of human massage therapists, and the user can adjust the pressure through a remote device and an interactive touchscreen.

“A good 80% of people like massages, but only 3% include them in their daily lives. Moreover, physiotherapists experience problems with their hands early on due to the great physical strain. This is where the iYU comes in,” Mr. Eyssautier states on his company’s website. “After all, massage is a subtle interplay of precision and application of pressure – an ideal candidate for implementation by machine, especially as it is possible to respond to individual sensitivities of the users.”

He said iYU comes in two versions: One for spas, hotels and companies and one for sports, fitness and training centers. A home version may not be far away.