MIGHT KNEAD A ’BOT
Handy AI relieves sore NYC
The robot will see you now! At this NYC spa, the “hands” of the masseuse giving you a rubdown may not be pumping with blood but filled with data.
Aescape has created the first commercially available, fully automated AI masseuse that’s a bit more advanced than your average mall massage chair — and works faster than your favorite masseuse.
For $60, anyone who downloads the Aescape app can book a 30minute session. It’s expected to be available to the public at 10 Equinox locations across the Big Apple this spring — and no, you don’t have to be an Equinox member.
The Aescape AI-enhanced massage tables use two robotic “arms” to scan the user’s body — clothed in friction-free clothing provided by the company upon arrival — in order to generate over 1.1 million 3D data points to map the body. From there, it can identify key anatomical points to guide the “hands” to perform a targeted massage, which can be controlled from a touchscreen directly under the headrest.
“Our robots move in a way that feels very familiar. That’s what’s really important,” Eric Litman, founder and CEO of Aescape, told The Post. “This had to feel like something that you already understand. But at the same time, we really wanted to empower the capabilities that could be delivered only through technology.”
The Aescape massage robot has two “hands” — which are heated and modeled after human hands, replicating their shape and strength — that move simultaneously and apply equal pressure, doing twice the work in half the time a human could.
“We think of physical touch being from another person because that’s what it’s always been,” Litman said. “But when you come in our environment, you very quickly get a sense that touch in and of itself is an important thing, and the idea that it’s technological or human just kind of melts away.”
These robot masseuses will be available on demand for an affordable, consistent and personalized massage — once Aescape is available to roll out all of its planned features.
“It’s important that you can lean into this and feel instantly at home, but that we’re also delivering on all the ways that only technology could enable,” Litman explained.
Robo pal for elderly
But massages aren’t the only service that’s been automated in the Big Apple.
AI-powered robots can do anything from giving you a manicure for $10 in 10 minutes — at Rockefeller Center, Hudson Yards and JFK Airport — to being your grandma’s high-tech helper.
For a state-of-the-art manicure, stylistas in a hurry can insert a nail color cartridge — like loading a pod into a Nespresso machine — into a Clockwork machine, which uses both AI and 3D technology to outline the nail and fill in a professional-looking polish change in less time than it takes some to choose a nail color.
To combat the loneliness epidemic, New York state officials have even distributed robots to hundreds of elderly residents that can remind them to take their medications, help contact loved ones, book an Uber ride and even engage in small talk and crack jokes.
Robots have also infiltrated medical spaces, acting as doctors doling out preventive medicine advice. Prenuvo — which has been touted by celebrities like Kim Kardashian but questioned by experts — claims to offer MRI body scans ranging from $999 to $2,499 for early detection of various health conditions such as disc herniation, musculoskeletal conditions, fatty liver disease and multiple sclerosis.
Another health tech company, Forward, is set to revamp the medical industry as it plans to roll out CarePod, “the world’s first AI doctor’s office,” which the company claims works as a self-service cube where patients can be screened for issues relevant to diabetes, hypertension, depression and anxiety.
The service is slated to begin taking patients in New York and other major US cities later this year — for $99 a month.
Robots around the world have even been created to do your eyelash extensions and inject your Botox.
Aescape chose New York to launch its innovative robot masseuse because it’s “filled with motivated people who really want the most out of life” with quick target services.
“Today, there’s a broad awareness that we’re living longer,” Litman said. “We have an opportunity to live better, longer if we take care of ourselves, starting at an earlier point in life.”