The work of a professional masseuse is not easy, requiring careful application of accurately directed force throughout the day. Sounds like a job for robots, especially robots designed in Asia.
Emma is a new robotic massage therapist developed at AiTreat, a startup that grew out of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. It was created to provide consistent, quality massages to help athletes and regular people recover from exercise and potentially even injury. Emma stands for “Expert Manipulative Massage Automation,” and like its name implies it can go through complicated massage routines while constantly monitoring the patient’s body to optimize the massage and prevent accidental injury.
The device is a six-axis robot with a set of pressure sensors on its tip and a 3D camera overseeing the scene. The camera and sensors guide the robotic arm to replicate the types of movements that Chinese medicine massage is famous for.
Emma is currently undergoing testing at Kin Teck Tong’s Sports Science and Chinese Medicine Clinic in Singapore, but we wonder if it would need to overcome a high regulatory hurdle to come to the U.S.
Link: AITREAT homepage…