Massage Robotics wants you to come and be touched by a robot – if that’s your thing

Somewhere in Las Vegas, a pair of robot arms are gently massaging a human being at CES 2022, and we’re calling it innovation.

The California-based Massage Robotics gave consumers a first look at the fascinating massage therapy technology, which it introduced late last year. As the name implies, this is a massage system that doesn’t rely on humans. Instead, the table uses a pair of robotic arms that look quite similar to the ones Universal Robotics sells to partners for a variety of tasks (Massage Robotics hasn’t confirmed this). Massage, however, is not one we anticipated.

There’s an arm on each side of a motorized table. Both can be customized with massage-friendly hands (effectors) that, ultimately, look nothing like hands. In one demonstration, one holds what looks like a pair of rollerblade wheels, while the other has a sort of wide, soft squeegee. 

Don’t be afraid, this robot wants to help you feel better. (Image credit: Massage Robotics)

One arm gently rolls the wheels up and down a model’s back, while the other focuses the wide bar on her hamstrings.

The robot arms are voice-activated and can, according to Massage Robotics, respond to commands to move to the left or right or increase or decrease pressure. One would also hope that they respond to a forceful, “STOP!”

Massage robotics Model Mr-01 robot table is backed by the cloud to help you store favorite massage routines and share them with friends (who also happen to have this table?). It’s also using AI and Machine learning to, according to the company,” evolve,” and is “learning what humans like.”

Yes, we know, this sounds way creepy, but the video demonstration does make it look quite pleasant. Pricing has not been set, but it does look like most of these tables will end up in commercial massage enterprises.

Massage Robotics’ table is still under development with commercial use expected sometime in Q2 of this year.

So are you ready to, as Massage Robotics asks, “See how good a robot can feel”? That’s what we thought.

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