I got a massage from an AI-powered robot, and it was surprisingly relaxing - ZDNet

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It's not every day that you're lying on a massage table while two robot arms knead the stress out of your body. But there I was, dressed in form-fitting slate gray exercise wear, face sunk into the donut-shaped headrest as an AI-powered robot gave me a 30-minute massage. It left me feeling a little funny, but also, curiously, relaxed.

That relaxation came from Aescape's robot at its New York office. Aescape is betting big on its AI massage robots and is launching ten robot massage tables, like the one I had a 30-minute session with, at Equinox fitness center locations around New York City starting this spring.

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Eric Litman, Aescape's founder and CEO, spent years fighting chronic pain, seeking out massage therapists to address a relentless bulging disc that made it impossible to turn his head. Dissatisfied with the service of massage therapists, what he really wanted out of a massage was for somebody to do just what he asked. So he spent seven years building a robot massage therapist.

The massage table uses AI to scan the customer's body on the table to generate data and conduct a massage. It logs over 1 million 3D data points to map the body's position on the table and target key anatomical points and remembers that data for returning users to customize their massage and meet each client's needs. Through the machine learning of the massage table, the AI gets smarter, aggregating the data of all the bodies it has performed massages on for a better and more intelligent session.

Throughout the table's development, Aescape has worked with and consulted massage therapists to simulate a massage therapist's practice. And if you're scared, like I was, that the robot arms will accidentally break your bones while performing a massage, fear not: "The arms themselves are only strong enough to give a good massage, and they're not any stronger than that… And with that model of your body, we're significantly more precise than a therapist," Litman told me.

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"You'll be able to specify not only predefined treatment protocols but a plan that aligns with how you feel about your body," Molly O'Connor, Aescape's spokesperson, explained. There will also be opportunities for activity-specific massage sessions programmed into the table. O'Connor provided the example of a session dedicated to runners who want to loosen their IT bands, or digital workers seeking to relieve tension in their back and shoulders they get from working a desk job.

Aescape's rollout of its semi-autonomous (semi-autonomous because it relies on user's input and adjustments) massage tables comes at a pivotal time in the massage therapy industry. The employment of massage therapists is expected to grow by 18% from 2022 to 2032, making way for more jobs and opportunities for people (or AI robots) in the space, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Each user puts on Aescape's Aerwear, a slate gray top and bottom that helps the massage arms perform a smooth, frictionless massage without the help of oil and without the user taking their clothes off. The Aerwear also works with the perception sensors as your body gets scanned. On the table, users customize the leg and headrests, the pressure levels of the massage arms, the music, and the screensaver that plays as the massage takes place. Then the two mechanical spaghetti massage arms come to life and start kneading, lengthening, and moving.

Nina Raemont/ZDNET

The robot massaged my upper back, shoulders, spine, lower back, and glutes. I enjoyed the pressure level customization and felt like I was in control of the massage, something that's not always the case when you're seeing a human massage therapist. There was one moment when the pressure the arm was putting on me was too intense, but I suddenly remembered that I could cool it down and receive a massage on my own terms and preferences.

"There's been a lot of thought and effort into how we operate [the robot] safely, making sure the arms are designed exactly the right way and making sure the vision system doesn't fail, and knowing what people love and really delights people," Litman said.


I wouldn't say the robot does a stellar job at targeting knots. The heated air points, the "hands" on the machine, have seven different surfaces that can simulate the blade of the palm, the forearm, or an elbow. But they're too large to feel like fingers, and the smaller tension in my body went unaddressed as a result. The air points felt like two warm fists, rather than fingers, were digging into my body. What the robot lacks in smaller details it makes up for in a broader relaxing experience.

As I received this robot massage, I thought about all the friends and people I know who wouldn't be comfortable taking their clothes off for a massage or having their bodies touched by a stranger. This feels like a valid alternative for those people. Aescape's research backs this up: The company found a pool of 10 million Americans who have never had a massage because they didn't want to be touched by a stranger.

While the massage tables will launch at Equinox fitness clubs across New York City, they aren't limited to Equinox members. Interested non-members will receive a free day pass when they reserve an Aescape massage table at the fitness center. A 30-minute massage will start at $60 and fluctuate based on the location and additional amenities provided.

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"[Aescape] is a natural fit for Equinox members who embrace the latest technology to achieve their fitness and wellness goals," O'Connor said of the partnership with Equinox. Plus, rolling out these massage tables in a gym setting, O'Connor explained, sets Aescape apart and allows them to "jointly innovate" with the luxury fitness center brand. "There's a whole lot of people in this country who are really into technology and wellness, the intersection of those two. Those are the people who start to build that social proof and the credibility," Litman said.

It might seem strange right now but maybe someday you'll wrap up a workout and dive into a massage session with a robot too.

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