Robotic Massage, Anyone?

Migraineman writes "These folks have built a small robot designed to walk around on your back. The website includes a short video of the machine roaming around. There's another that's suspended from the ceiling and performs 3-D solid mapping of the person beneath. Warning - the website contains 'artsy' stuff, and doesn't include technical tidbits. Dang."

Comments

Massage...

[mrjive]

Seems like it wouldn't be heavy enough to do anything besides mildly tickle you. (A good massage usually involves a fair amount of pressure).

I guess that's why they call it "The Tickler"

1984, anyone?

[Stephonovich]

The neccesary Orwellian post. And yes, I've read 1984...

Anyway, just seems to me that as corny (or cool, to some ./ers) as this idea may seem, it seems to me to be yet another step towards computers/robots entrenching themselves in our lives. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, but the more used we get to technology doing everything, the more shocked we will be if it ever ceases.

Re:1984, anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

I dont believe you. How is a world where everyone is kept in repression by being DEPRIVED of the very things we're talking about, luxury goods, and kept completely off machines as far as dependency goes (nobody had a fucking car in Airstrip One except for the Thought Police and the other bastards from Minilove). Or did you just manage to forget to read the chapters that were of Winston reading Goldstein's book, that explained why the world was so fucked in the story?

Re:1984, anyone?

[Nindalf]

Not our world, the world of Orwell's 1984. Among other things it was a world of crushing poverty, and the only entertainment tech I remember were mechanically-authored novels and TV. You must have it mixed up with "Brave New World" or something. Pleasure droids would have fit right in with that world's soma, feelies, and casual sex.

Robotic massage? Not really.

[geekwench]

It's been mentioned before that this little gizmo isn't heavy enough to be an effective massager, so I won't belabor that point. What I will say is that, after looking through whole the site, it isn't meant to be.
The people who created this are artists. Admittedly, artists who are also darn good engineers, but artists nonetheless; and as such, they're probably more conerned about aesthetic than function. Now, I'm not saying that this gizmo doesn't function; it does just what it's supposed to do. It bumbles around on your back and creates a tickling sensation. It's not entirely non-theraputic; the light pressure is probably enough to stimulate the circulation to an extent. Still, it was created as a piece of artwork, and that is its primary function.

Good massage requires the ability to find and loosen tense muscles without hurting the person being massaged. This means it has to be interactive: "Am I pressing too hard? How does that feel?" Even most hydromassage beds don't allow a person to control water pressure or target certain areas. People spend years (depending on the local requirements) learning the techniques and becoming certified, and that is because you can do some major damage if you don't know what you're doing.
Bottom line is, it's a toy. It's cute, and has a serious "way cool" factor, but it's piece of self-propelled sculpture. Human hands aren't in any danger of becoming obsolete, IMNSHO.