The Latest Massage Chair Tech Is More Sci-Fi Than Masseuse Table
A test of new models from Korea’s Bodyfriend and New York’s Resonate Labs.
A meditation chair from Resonate Labs.
Courtesy Resonate
I was waiting to catch a return flight to New York in the Madrid-Barajas airport last September when my fiancée and I spotted arguably the greatest available nonalcoholic and non-duty-free use of our last €30: the robotic massage chair. It wasn’t conspicuously high-end. The machine functioned primarily as an added amenity at a low-rent, overpriced “wellness” smoothie stand.
But a funny thing happened. It was the greatest massage of either of our lives. The massage was such a revelation, it even replaced my regular anxiety about flying with befuddlement: Why do Americans get offered options like this only as an afterthought or a sneaky treat at a shopping mall Brookstone?