Cyber relaxation time! French company Capsix Robotics and researchers from the University of Plymouth in the UK have created two robots that can deliver personalized massages.
The Capsix robot massager has a robotic arm with sensors and a camera that allows it to adapt to the shape of the individual user's body. It has been programmed with different massage protocols developed by physiotherapists, and users can adjust the strength of the massage.
Francois Eyssautier Capsix, who designed the robot, says that over 4000 people have tried it and many (why not all?) they appreciated it. Some people are not sure at first, but “After 3 or 4 minutes they forget it's a robot and relax”He says.
Capsix, the home massage robot
The advantage of having a robot that massages you is that “you must not have contact with any other person”, says Eyssautier. Very useful in the covid-19 era which does not recommend close contact with others. “Also, sometimes we don't want to be touched by other people, we just want to relax by ourselves”, he claims.
The University of Plymouth's robot massager
This robot works similarly to Capsix, but can be further customized. Instead of being limited to pre-programmed massage protocols, users can teach the robot to perform exactly the movements they prefer by physically guiding the arm in a “training” session.
In other words, people can teach the robot how to touch them. Chunxu Li, who co-designed the robot, is convinced that this is the right way.
But it is not a short way
Before robotic masseurs can be as good as human ones, it still takes a while. It almost goes without saying. A human physiotherapist can precisely feel the "hardest" points to loosen, a feedback currently impossible for any cybernetic creature.
Also, because the robotic masseur's hands don't have fingers, they can't perform the same fine manipulations as human therapists.
Just as obviously, robotics and artificial intelligence will improve incredibly over time, and if Capsix and colleagues are the starting point, we will certainly see some good ones.
The Capsix robot massager is currently available for rental but not for purchase. The University of Plymouth one is still in the research phase, but researchers hope to make it available for purchase and home use soon.
References: Frontiers in Neurorobotics , DOI: 10.3389/fnbot.2020.00030
