Name: Here’s what it’s like to get an AI-powered robotic massage
Uploaded: 2024-03-13
Duration: 8 min 15 s
Description: Aescape offers what it touts as “the world’s most advanced massage” featuring robotic arms and an experience users can control themselves. With 30-minute sessions starting at $60, the company hopes to make therapeutic massages accessible to a wider audience.

<p>Hello, my name is Alexa Mikhail. I'm a health and wellness reporter at Fortune and I'm getting my first AI-powered massage. Come with me. A massage powered by artificial intelligence and robotic arms might sound like something out of science fiction, but automation is disrupting the spa industry with the arrival of companies like Aescape. This is what we like to think of as the world's most advanced massage. So coming in here, you would have booked on an app for finding a table that's available around you in whatever city you might be in. You come in, you put on these cool clothes, you lay down on the table beneath the headrest. There is a touchscreen. We have sensors overhead here that create a 3D model of your body and that's going to show off your body in 3D and let you make all the changes you want to make to the massage. So we're going to have you lie face down here, arms out in front. We're going to maybe adjust that bolster for your feet just a little bit. And headrest, is that comfortable? You want that up, down and out? Do you like a firm massage, medium pressure? How do you like it? I would say medium. Alright, that's where we're going to start and we can always make the changes. We also have some immersive content here. If you just want to be taken away to another place in the middle of the massage, in the middle of the rainforest on a snowy mountain or maybe just in some lovely water. And then most notably over on the right there, we have a pressure control. Why don't you go ahead and give that plus sign a tap a couple of times and you can see it's really responsive, goes up and down very quickly. It will never get frustrated with you. If you want to make a lot of changes or you change your mind or you like it really firm in this spot, but not in that spot. You can see on the circles there just how much pressure is being applied at any point in the time. If you ever need to pause, the button's right at the bottom. There's a button to move on to the next stroke. If there ever reason why you wanted help from someone, there's an assistance button in the lower right corner, a standard massage with Aescape costs $60 and lasts 30 minutes with the company planning to roll out different options and price points for consumers down the line. After my massage. I sat down with founder and CEO Eric Litman to learn more about the product. How was your massage? It was great. I'm a little dazed so we'll see how this interview goes. What were your favorite parts of it? I liked being able to adjust the music, kind of adjust the pressure points and also watch where it was going next and sort of see it as a protocol kind of throughout the 30 minutes. So you founded Aescape in 2017, nearly seven years ago. So, can you talk a little bit about the impetus of beginning the company? So I started this back at a point. I was having serious chronic neck and upper back pain and I spent about eight months of my life needing a massage just about every day, just to be able to do that just to be able to turn my head one day and a bit of either clarity or maybe even a bit of insanity. I thought of going and automating the industry. So we've launched a fully automated massage that's available on demand. You can go and get that massage any time you want at the push of a and you're in complete control of the treatment. So you get to make the decisions about where and how it works on your body and how well it's going to work and it's always going to remember you. So no matter which location of our tables you go to, it'll know your body, it'll know your preferences and it will always just get better. How are you thinking about the safety protocols in a machine like this? Yeah. So we think about it in a bunch of different ways. First off, going back to what I said before you're in control. So if the pressure is too high, pressure is too low at any moment, you can make a change that's on the control side. Then on, on the product side, we've spent the last seven years building this testing on over 5,000 people. Here, we have gone through multiple prototypes, multiple iterations of the software to get to a place where we now think we deliver a great experience for everyone when you were on the table and you had your massage today. How would you, how would you describe the motions you felt on your body? I mean, yeah, it did feel very dynamic and yeah, kind of you didn't even know the difference almost in a way which was interesting. It's a radically different experience than what it is before. Interesting. Yeah, we worked with orthopedic surgeons and therapists to create very clear specifications of what parts of the body can accept, what levels of pressure. And we make sure that all that makes its way into the massage protocols we generate and we notably give you the ability to make the immediate changes that are required outside of pressure. So if you want to stop, there's a pause button. If you, I want to stop. There's a big red button that will make the arm slide away from the table, the arms themselves really important point. They were especially designed not to be that strong. They're perfectly strong for a great massage and that's exactly what they're good at doing, but they're not any stronger and they don't have any ability to hurt you. Some skeptics might argue that an AI- powered massage misses sort of that human touch, emotion, or connection. So what would you say to that? I would say that our massage is designed for people who are looking for a great experience that they can be fully in control of market research we've done has shown a pool of 10 million Americans who would not get a massage from a massage therapist because they're just uncomfortable being in a room with another person or having to deal with somebody who is of another gender that they didn't particularly want for that for that massage. I think over time as people in general become more comfortable with automated services and solutions in their life, even those who loved treatments with therapists will enjoy what we do. But there's another way to think of this. There are 30,000 open positions for massage therapists in the US right now. So the challenge really is helping the industry fill in that gap. Our product is very distinct in that it allows you control over the experience, but it will also over time allow therapists to have control over the experience so they can start to incorporate it as a tool into their practice. So it's both a complement to existing treatments and an opportunity to experience something entirely different. Can you talk a little bit about the price point and where people can find this A I powered massage? So we're launching this initially in Equinox Gyms here in New York City with a planned roll out across the country in the coming months. Price to the consumer will be a starting price point of $60 for a 30 minute session, which we think is a great value. There were two arms applying equal force to the body simultaneously. Therapists when they work on, you will work on one side and walk around and work on the other. So we like to think we're doing twice the work in half the time and the 30 minute massage is equivalent to at least a 60 minute massage with the therapist. So with the initial launch in Equinox in New York, how many machines will be distributed across the city? There'll be 10 machines in the equinox locations. The hope is that we'll be shipping 600 tables in our first year of shipping and in terms of, you know, future expansion, where do you hope that people could sign up and get this service beyond a luxury gym? We're licensing these two hotels to gyms, to spas a, you'll find them in some multifamily dwellings. So condo buildings, apartment buildings, professional sports teams and collegiate teams and even some physical therapy and pain management clinics will have them as well. And sort of in terms of, you know, what you hope that this will become in six months and a year and five years from now, you know, where do you see it kind of in the larger space of wellness? I think the opportunity here really is to democratize more and more health services for consumers and really to bring the opportunity for people to better take care of themselves in ways that make sense in the scope of their lives at price points that are affordable. And we're going to continue to push along that line thinking bigger picture, you know, down the road, what do you think the future of AI and wellness is going to be? I think it's going to underpin just about everything in wellness A I in general right now is transforming diagnostic medicine on the prevention side. People in general are being a lot more thoughtful about taking care of themselves and recognizing that we are collectively living longer. The opportunity now is not just to improve our lifespan, but to improve, improve our health span the time in which we're healthy throughout the course of our life.</p>

Aescape offers what it touts as “the world’s most advanced massage” featuring robotic arms and an experience users can control themselves. With 30-minute sessions starting at $60, the company hopes to make therapeutic massages accessible to a wider audience.

Here’s what it’s like to get an AI-powered robotic massage

Health

Aescape offers what it touts as “the world’s most advanced massage” featuring robotic arms and an experience users can control themselves.

Hello, my name is Alexa mchale. I'm a health and wellness reporter at Fortune and I'm getting my first A I powered massage. Come with me a massage powered by artificial intelligence and robotic arms might sound like something out of science fiction, but automation is disrupting the spa industry with the arrival of companies like escape. This is what we like to think of as the world's most advanced massage. So coming in here, you would have booked on an app for finding a table that's available around you in whatever city you might be in. You come in, you put on these cool clothes, you lay down on the table beneath the headrest. There is a touchscreen. We have sensors overhead here that create a 3D model of your body and that's going to show off your body in 3d and let you make all the changes you want to make to the massage. So we're going to have your light face down here, arms out the front, we're kind of maybe adjust that bolster for your feet just a little bit and headrest is that comfortable? You want that up down and out? Do you like a firm massage, medium pressure. How do you like it? I would say medium. All right. That's where we're going to start and we can always make the changes. We also have some immersive content here. If you just want to be taken away to another place in the middle of the massage, in the middle of the rainforest on a snowy mountain or maybe just in some lovely water. And then most notably over on the right there, we have a pressure control. Why don't you go ahead and give that plus sign, a tap a couple of times and you can see it's really responsive, goes up and down very quickly. It will never get frustrated with you. If you want to make a lot of changes or you change your mind or you like it really firm in this spot, but not in that spot. You can see on the circles there just how much pressure is being applied at any point in the time. If you ever need to pause buttons right at the bottom, there's a button to move on to the next stroke. If there ever reason why you wanted help from someone, there's an assistance button in the lower right corner, a standard massage with escape costs $60 and lasts 30 minutes with the company planning to roll out different options and price points for consumers down the line. After my massage. I sat down with founder and Ceo Eric Litman to learn more about the product. How was your massage? It was great. I'm on a little date so we'll see how this interview goes. What were your favorite parts of it? I like being able to adjust the music, kind of adjust the pressure points and also watch where it was going next and sort of see it as a protocol kind of throughout the 30 minutes. So you found it escape in 2017, nearly seven years ago. So, can you talk a little bit about the impetus of beginning the company? So I started this back at a point. I was having serious chronic neck and upper back pain and I spent about eight months of my life needing a massage just about every day, just to be able to do that just to be able to turn my head one day and a bit of either clarity or maybe even a bit of insanity. I thought of going and automating the industry. So we've launched a fully automated massage that's available on demand. You can go and get that massage any time you want at the push of a and you're in complete control of the treatment. So you get to make the decisions about where and how it works on your body and how well it's going to work and it's always going to remember you. So no matter which location of our tables you go to, it'll know your body, it'll know your preferences and it will always just get better. How are you thinking about the safety protocols in a machine like this? Yeah. So we think about it in a bunch of different ways. First off, going back to what I said before you're in control. So if the pressure is too high, pressure is too low at any moment, you can make a change that's on the control side. Then on, on the product side, we've spent the last seven years building this testing on over 5000 people. Here, we have gone through multiple prototypes, multiple iterations of the software to get to a place where we now think we deliver a great experience for everyone when you were on the table and you had your massage today. How would you, how would you describe the motions you felt on your body? I mean, yeah, it did feel very dynamic and yeah, kind of you didn't even know the difference almost in a way which was interesting. It's a radically different experience than what it is before. Interesting. Yeah, we worked with orthopedic surgeons and therapists to create very clear specifications of what parts of the body can accept, what levels of pressure. And we make sure that all that makes its way into the massage protocols we generate and we notably give you the ability to make the immediate changes that are required outside of pressure. So if you want to stop, there's a pause button. If you, I want to stop. There's a big red button that will make the arm slide away from the table, the arms themselves really important point. They were especially designed not to be that strong. They're perfectly strong for a great massage and that's exactly what they're good at doing, but they're not any stronger and they don't have any ability to hurt you. Some skeptics might argue that an A I powered massage misses sort of that human touch, emotion or connection. So what would you say to that? I would say that our massage is designed for people who are looking for a great experience that they can be fully in control of market research we've done has shown a pool of 10 million Americans who would not get a massage from a massage therapist because they're just uncomfortable being in a room with another person or having to deal with somebody who is of another gender that they didn't particularly want for that for that massage. I think over time as people in general become more comfortable with automated services and solutions in their life, even those who loved treatments with therapists will enjoy what we do. But there's another way to think of this. There are 30,000 open positions for massage therapists in the US right now. So the challenge really is helping the industry fill in that gap. Our product is very distinct in that it allows you control over the experience, but it will also over time allow therapists to have control over the experience so they can start to incorporate it as a tool into their practice. So it's both a complement to existing treatments and an opportunity to experience something entirely different. Can you talk a little bit about the price point and where people can find this A I powered massage? So we're launching this initially in Equinox Gyms here in New York City with a planned roll out across the country in the coming months. Price to the consumer will be a starting price point of $60 for a 30 minute session, which we think is a great value. There were two arms applying equal force to the body simultaneously. Therapists when they work on, you will work on one side and walk around and work on the other. So we like to think we're doing twice the work in half the time and the 30 minute massage is equivalent to at least a 60 minute massage with the therapist. So with the initial launch in Equinox in New York, how many machines will be distributed across the city? There'll be 10 machines in the equinox locations. The hope is that we'll be shipping 600 tables in our first year of shipping and in terms of, you know, future expansion, where do you hope that people could sign up and get this service beyond a luxury gym? We're licensing these two hotels to gyms, to spas a, you'll find them in some multifamily dwellings. So condo buildings, apartment buildings, professional sports teams and collegiate teams and even some physical therapy and pain management clinics will have them as well. And sort of in terms of, you know, what you hope that this will become in six months and a year and five years from now, you know, where do you see it kind of in the larger space of wellness? I think the opportunity here really is to democratize more and more health services for consumers and really to bring the opportunity for people to better take care of themselves in ways that make sense in the scope of their lives at price points that are affordable. And we're going to continue to push along that line thinking bigger picture, you know, down the road, what do you think the future of A I and wellness is going to be? I think it's going to underpin just about everything in wellness A I in general right now is transforming diagnostic medicine on the prevention side. People in general are being a lot more thoughtful about taking care of themselves and recognizing that we are collectively living longer. The opportunity now is not just to improve our lifespan, but to improve, improve our health span the time in which we're healthy throughout the course of our life.