Robotic Massage

Facials, Spas, Massages, and health products are all the rage. The human pampering industry is a 2 billion dollar industry. It is no wonder that many are looking for an entrance into this market.

The robotics industry has been in this area for a while now, but not very widely recognize. Simply walk into Brookstone at your local mall and you will be faced by a massaging robot in the form of a lounge chair. These robotic massage therapist can run in the upwards of $5,000.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting some folks whose whole focus is massage chairs. Their chairs far exceeded the quality and massage style of Brookstone's and ran in the $1 to $2 thousand range.

However, if you have more money to burn and are looking for the ultimate robot to massage you then wait no more. A new $70K robot has been premiere in Japan and it is ready for facial massages. Researchers at Tokyo's Waseda University hope the contraption will soon be deployed to hospitals and spas across Japan to give therapeutic facial massages. The WAO-1 (Waseda Asahi Oral Rehabilitation Robot 1) robot, is being developed initially for patients with jaw-related medical problems, but will make a penetration into Massage Therapist Offices in the near future. The robotics driving the unit have been refined to account for the softness and bone structure of the face. Learn more on this from the AP.

A New Evolution of Massage Chairs

I remember like five years ago or so my boss at the time decided to give everyone a massage pad for our chairs. The unit was clunky at best and just didn't provide the comfort promised in the box, but is the thought that counts, right?

I had forgotten about this unit until recently when I moved and went through all my belongings with a fine comb, throwing out everything I hadn't use in a year or more. Interesting enough, today a news piece made its way to my inbox, the release titled "Ultra-slim HT-1470 robotic portable massage pad covers 25% more back area" caught my eye.

Apparently human touch™, a large distributor of massage chairs and pads claim to have created a pad that provides 25-percent more back-area coverage than competing massage pads. This was one of the many complaints I had in regards to the aforementioned pad. The lead engineer of the massage robot claimed that in the design of the HT-1470, they took a new approach to robotic massage technology and functionality. In order to make the HT-1470 a great success, they redefine the potential of massage robotics while minimizing the thickness of the mechanism, portability and weight, and maintaining the industry-leading massage quality for which human touch is renowned. This all provided at an attractive price point.

Doctors often speak of the benefits of a good massage, the proof is in the growing number of LMT's, licensed massage therapists. However, the cost of a massage could be enough to give you a coronary. Robotics might make the difference, this unit is available directly from www.humantouch.com, offered with a suggested retail price of $249.99.