I had an AI massage by Aescape at W Scottsdale’s Away Spa. Here’s what I thought about the entire experience. 

As technology increasingly occupies larger spaces in our lives (hello, self-driving Waymos), it makes total sense that it would come for the wellness space. Enter Aescape, which is pronounced “escape,” an AI-powered massage machine. The company is based in New York and was founded in 2017. The W Scottsdale has the only machine in Arizona, and I recently got a complimentary session to try this out. Here’s what it was like.

My experience with Aescape

After I walked into the Away Spa, located on the ground floor of the hip Old Town Scottsdale hotel, I walked down a hallway with other treatment rooms and turned right to find this machine.

The table sits lower to the ground than a traditional massage table since a person isn’t standing over you. It’s also wider than a traditional table and is soft and comfortable. The most striking feature was the two white arms on either side of the table.

First, the Aescape rep instructed me to remove my clothes and put on the provided gray long-sleeved shirt and leggings. I could keep my underwear on, but I was instructed to take off my bra. The tag on the leggings told me that the material was 40% recycled polyester, 40% polyester, and 20% elastane. It felt relatively thick, but also soft like regular athletic wear.

I remember feeling hot when I first donned the long-sleeved shirt, but that didn’t last long. The “suit” felt somewhat futuristic, in keeping with the entire experience. Most importantly, it allows the machine’s arm to glide over you without the use of oil.

After I laid down, I got to adjust the height of the face cradle and armrest underneath my upper body. Beneath the face cradle is a touch screen where you can customize and guide the entire experience. The welcome message mentioned my first name and provided some basic instructions, like tying up my hair and removing any necklaces. Next, I got to adjust the leg cradle located about three-quarters of the way down the table.

Guests can select from durations of 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes of massage and then choose an area of focus, including the full back and glutes, as well as the upper and mid-back. Aescape also offers a few other signature treatments, like one that focuses solely on the glutes. I chose a 30-minute massage with a focus on the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings.

First up, the machine quickly analyzes your body. On its website, Aescape claims to capture 1.2 million data points. I didn’t remember hearing anything when the scan was being completed, but the screen below shows a rough outline of your body.

The screen then lets you select the pressure that the “hands,” which are shaped like fins with curved edges, will apply to your muscles, along with what you watch and listen to. The immersive screen can display different scenes, such as rain or waves, paired with a custom playlist. The other option is to watch where the robotic hands are on your body at all times.

The hands press into you and then move backward and forward to massage you. (Watch that in action in this YouTube short.) They are heated to feel like human hands, although I wouldn’t say they felt quite the same. The “hands” felt warm for sure, but way too smooth—surely a sign of the plastic—to be considered human. The heat did feel good, though—almost like a hand warmer that you tuck into your gloves on a cold day.

On the left-hand side of the screen was an exact breakdown of the time—down to the seconds—of what part of my body it was working on and the different steps it took to get there. For instance, it showed an exact percentage and time it was working on my lower back. See a specific breakdown here.

Please keep in mind that you can’t turn over and have your upper shoulders worked on while you’re facing up. This only works when you’re lying down. There’s also a big red emergency stop button on the center of the console you can press if something goes wrong.

After the massage was over, I had the option of saving my profile so the machine could learn my preferences.

Overall thoughts on my AI massage

The massage itself was OK. I did feel better afterward, but I’ve had much better massages. I appreciated how customizable the experience was, but I also found it distracting. Just like with a phone, it’s hard to stop looking at the screen and really shut your mind off. You can skip certain parts of the massage—like say your lower back—but you lose that time and can’t get it back. It was convenient, and it’s nice not having to shower post-massage.

I’ve had many massages over the years, and one of the joys is letting another person curate the entire experience. You not only lie there and relax but also let another person tailor an experience to you while you just focus on relaxing and letting go. Try as I might, I couldn’t quite relax enough to really enjoy the experience. I couldn’t forget that there was a pair of plastic hands on me while I was wearing tight clothing.

Like most technology, data tells us a great deal, but not everything. A machine operates according to a computer program. A skilled practitioner’s experience cannot be beat by any computer. It just can’t be. If you’re looking for a neat experience and a decent massage, an AI massage might be just right for you. But if you’re looking for a truly great massage, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

The Pros

• If you don’t want to lie naked on a massage table and still have your muscles worked on, this might be a great option for you. You’ll be wearing a long-sleeved shirt and long leggings when you’re lying on the table and aren’t completely nude.
• Since there’s no oil or lotion involved, you don’t have to shower afterward.
• Since this is a machine massage, you don’t have to tip. But a 30-minute massage still costs around $60. To put that in perspective, a 50-minute massage at W Hotel’s Away Spa costs $180 plus tax and tip. The Clovr Life Spa charges $79 for nonmembers for a 30-minute massage. The NOW charges $60 for a 25-minute massage. Those last two prices don’t include a tip. It’s definitely cheaper than the cost of a typical massage.
• I did think the massage was fairly effective, and I left feeling better. Whether you like this massage probably depends mostly on your comfort level with the technology.

The Cons

• It’s easy to get distracted by the screen that lies just below your face. The screen displays the location of the robotic “hands” on your body, offers the option to create a custom playlist, and indicates the remaining time during the message. With so many choices, it can make it tough to relax.
• Although the arms are heated to a temperature intended to mimic the warmth of human hands, it’s hard to forget that this is a piece of plastic on your body. The massage literally lacks the human touch.
• The machine also made the fan noises that laptops typically produce when cooling down for most of the massage, which made it hard to truly relax.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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