What it's like to get a robot massage in Chicago
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The Aescape massage table awaits. Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios
We can either fear or embrace robots infiltrating our world.
For this experiment, I chose to embrace.
The big picture: Two Chicago Equinox locations — one in the Gold Coast and the other in the Loop — started offering Aescape robot massages in April. Sessions can be booked for 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes.
- Prices start at $29.
- You don't have to be a gym member to book.
How it works: I booked a 30-minute massage at the Gold Coast location. An employee grabbed me a (very tight) shirt, leggings and headband to wear.
- The room is like a traditional spa with a vinyl table, dimmed lights and calming music.
- When I lay down on the table, a touchscreen in front of my face had options to adjust the music genre, volume, pressure of massage and how to move the robot if it's working on a spot I don't want it to.
- You can also favorite a specific position and pressure so the machine remembers you for next time.
Zoom in: The robot masseuse was not a cyborg or anything that sci-fi. It has two large arms on each side of the table with curved "hands" that move up and down the back of your body.
Reality check: Robots can't do everything humans can.
- "Many massage therapists see the physical connection with clients as central to the entire experience — an exchange of energy, an innate human need, and a mindful, unique process," the American Massage Therapy Association said.
The other side: Aescape emphasizes that its robots are complementary to human massages, arguing that the convenience of locations and a very open appointment schedule (at least for the Gold Coast one I visited) will allow people to get massages more regularly rather than as an indulgence.
- Plus, licensed massage therapists are on staff and help "design all the massage content down to each individual stroke," spokesperson Brendan Cox tells Axios.
Between the lines: A robot can be a good option for people who avoid massages because they don't like the vulnerability of being nude with a stranger or being touched.
- My friend Cara McCanse, a clinical psychologist, told me, "Massages are supposed to be relaxing and if your body is in flight or freeze, that's the opposite of relaxing."
The verdict: As someone who likes to have some control of my environment, it was awesome.
- It's affordable — $44 for 30 minutes and easy to get an appointment in a pinch.
- But I wouldn't rule out human massage therapists anytime soon. I appreciate their ability to react to the tension in my muscles and the specificity of saying, "Not that spot, but right there."