Recently, Justin and Roxane have been rolling mechanics in the rooms of a spa in the Eastern Townships. And for good reason, they are the very first robots to provide therapeutic massages in North America. Does the idea of being kneaded by a steel arm guided by artificial intelligence intrigue you? The Press tried the experiment.
They are very beautiful, these robots seeming to spring from a novel by Asimov. But Roxane and Justin are there only for your good, “hired” as mechanical massage therapists a little earlier this year by Euro-Spa, an establishment in Saint-Ignace-de-Stanbridge.
Designed by a French technology company, these two specimens were brought under the arm of Josef Bilher, owner of the spa. “I had been looking for a solution for two years to be able to continue offering massages when a therapist canceled a session or was unavailable. I found this French start-up, we went to see them in Lyon, my wife tried the robot and I told them: ‟I want two”, he says.
Mr. Bilher also underlines the fact that some people can be uncomfortable under the hands and eyes of a therapist, for all sorts of reasons. “There may be a question of embarrassment. Some may feel discomfort at the idea of being touched, others in relation to nudity, ”explains the owner, also mentioning the possibility of social anxiety of customers.
The beginning of the end of the human massage therapist? In the eyes of the owner, it is rather a complementary offer.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Josef Bilher traveled to France to test this new technology himself and import it to Quebec.
When the project was launched, there was never any question of the robot replacing a therapist. Never. But when you don’t have a therapist available, whether it’s because of the pandemic or the labor shortage, it’s a great option.
Josef Bilher, owner of Euro-Spa
Go-go, massage gadget
Now is the time to get your skin kneaded. In the room where the Justin robot is enthroned, you first choose, accompanied by a supervisor, the parameters of your session on an interactive terminal: pressure, type of massage (Swedish, upper back, relaxing Californian, deep), musical ambiance…
Once undressed, you lie down on the heated table, you put your head in a “donut-cushion”, from where you can see a control monitor on which the progress of the session will be displayed. Within reach, a remote control allows you to raise or lower the intensity of the pressure.
Last step, the device performs a complete 3D optical scan of the client’s body to detect its morphology and adapt its movements. The massage can then begin. The funny articulated arm placed at our side comes to life, evoking industrial robots. At its end, not a hand, but rather a kind of hoof, wrapped in a medical silicone glove. The contact is both soft and frank, beginning the Swedish massage of medium intensity that we had selected.
Passing alternately on one side and the other of the spine, Justin goes up the muscles and kneads them with vigor and precision.
The sensation is strange, but quickly, you forget that the cogs are at work and you let yourself be carried away by the undulations of the robot according to the body.
For the moment, it is able to work on the whole back, but Euro-Spa is collaborating in the development of the machine, so that it can take care of the legs, in particular.
Without a doubt, the experience, moreover very pleasant, remains quite different from the work of a human massage therapist. For example, feeling only one pressure point instead of the usual two hands is a bit confusing. Also, even if you can control the intensity of the massage during its execution, you cannot ask the robot to focus on a particular area or tell it where THE annoying node is. But overall, Justin and Roxane limit themselves to what they are asked to do: massage their backs, and they do well. We pushed the intensity to the maximum, which made it possible to act in depth without making us wince.
Massive intimacy
For customers who are a little shy or shy, this option is worth considering. But will those suffering from robophobia trust these steel massagers? “It’s impossible for an accident to occur,” reassures Josef Bilher, who himself uses the machines twice a week.
In the robotic arm that massages you, sensors scan your morphology and allow it to act precisely on the body.
Josef Bilher, owner of Euro-Spa
It costs $85, plus taxes, for a session with one of the massage robots, spanning 45 minutes (about ten minutes of preparation and a big half-hour of massage). And if the question came to mind: no, Justin and Roxane are not authorized to provide a receipt for insurance.
Will we see these tools flourish in Quebec spas? Mr. Bilher says he has been contacted by a few colleagues, but that the investment tends to dampen enthusiasm. When asked how much that is for a single robot, the owner of Euro-Spa shows two fingers. $20,000? No, a zero must be added to this number. The robotic duo is not idle: it has offered more than 400 massages since its inauguration. And you, would you dare to be crushed by a steel hand in a silicone glove?