| Robotic massage chairs seem to entering the | | | | routines that are preset or manual - I don't |
| realms of science-fiction; they look like | | | | remember which one as I was to busy trying to |
| they belong on the bridge of the starship | | | | stay composed in the vice like grip of the |
| Enterprise, come with technical gadgets you | | | | chair, a composure that was sorely tested as |
| need a PhD to even begin to use and just look | | | | the chair began to recline. |
| darn scary to me. The Inada RoboChair massage | | | | |
| recliner is probably the meanest, scariest | | | | The massage I received was very robust; not |
| mother of them all - a machine that is only | | | | an inch of the length of my body was spared. |
| for the bravest or foolhardy of souls. | | | | I was told this was thanks to the Full |
| | | | Contact armrest, Full Contact footrest and |
| But in all seriousness, the Inada RoboChair | | | | Full Contact back. |
| is one serious chair and is perhaps the most | | | | |
| technically advanced on the market place. | | | | Anyhow, just after promising myself that I |
| This isn't surprising as Inada are the | | | | would never, ever sit in a robotic massage |
| accepted leaders and just about every new | | | | chair again, I was told about its voice |
| advance in this industry came from its | | | | activated control system. It's what? I said. |
| laboratory is Osaka, Japan. The history of | | | | I was then shown the microphone that is |
| the robotic massage chair is the history of | | | | positioned to one side of the headrest; I'd |
| Inada - or should that be the other way | | | | seen the device earlier but I was too afraid |
| round? | | | | to ask what it was. The person demonstrating |
| | | | the chair positioned the microphone in place |
| I wasn't kidding when I said the chair scared | | | | - my arms were still locked down - and began |
| me. The footrests, arm cuffs and control | | | | to explain to me how it worked. |
| panel make the chair look as though it was | | | | |
| solely constructed as a torture device, but | | | | The voice activation system allows you to |
| maybe that's what massage is anyway? | | | | change various things like the recline angle |
| | | | and roller programs, and activation of the |
| When you first sit in the chair you start to | | | | kneading and tapping programs by simple word |
| feel powerless as your legs and arms are | | | | commands. Incredible! Suddenly, I was the one |
| locked down. A feeling of panic sets in as | | | | in charge. The RoboChair wasn't a menacing |
| the chair stirs to life, scanning your body | | | | Rottweiler after all, but a little, fawning |
| with optical sensors. It really does this | | | | lapdog, who obediently obeyed my every |
| before each massage; the infrared sensors | | | | command. |
| determine your acupressure points along the | | | | |
| length of your back and then compare your | | | | I thoroughly enjoyed playing about with the |
| profile to 100 stored profiles. The chair | | | | voice control and forgot all about my earlier |
| matches your profile to the 'best-fit' stored | | | | trepidations, so much so that I thought I |
| profile to provide you with a totally | | | | would like to buy the Inada massage chair. I |
| customized massage. Apparently in order for | | | | was then told its price tag of $7,500. Gosh. |
| any chair to be a true shiatsu massage chair | | | | Its price was the scariest thing about the |
| it should be able to detect body shape and | | | | RoboChair. I made good my escape. |
| find your acupressure points and | | | | |
| automatically adjust the rollers. | | | | Follow the links for the Inada massage chair |
| | | | or another robotic massage chair like the |
| The chair then goes into one of its many | | | | OSIM shiatsu massage chair. |