Scientists have invented a washing machine for people: what it is and how it will work

If fluffy foam, aromatic oil and even rose petals in your bath are no longer surprising or enjoyable, Japanese engineers have created something that will definitely impress you. They call their invention a "washing machine for people".

According to the Daily Mail, the Project Usoyaro device looks like a capsule with a comfortable lounge chair and a large screen inside. When a person is resting inside this capsule filled with warm water, the screen shows videos specially selected by artificial intelligence for relaxation. At the same time, nozzles located around the body spray the body from all sides with powerful jets of water saturated with a large number of small air bubbles. These bubbles remove all dirt from the body.

Project Usoyaro was developed by Science, an Osaka-based technology company specialising in the creation of bubble shower and bath heads. It is expected that their development will be ready by 2024, and it is planned to present it to the public for the first time at the Osaka Expo in 2025. The device's special feature will be video projections. According to the developers, they should "wash the mind" in the same way that water washes the body.

The inspiration for the development of such a washing machine was an ultrasonic bath from Sanyo Electric, which was demonstrated in the Osaka pavilion at the 1970 Osaka Expo. The head of Science, Yasuaki Aoyama, saw it when he was 10 years old and was very impressed. The egg-shaped bathtub automatically filled with hot water as soon as a person sat down, and then 300 massage balls began to massage their body while ultrasonic waves removed all impurities. The person would leave the bath completely dry. The whole bathing process took 15 minutes.

This innovative device did not become widespread, as it was not yet common in Japan to have a bathtub in the home. However, Sanyo later used the ultrasonic cleaning technology in its washing machines, becoming a pioneer in this market.

Yasuaki Aoyama was also concerned about his colleagues' invention because one of his daughters suffered from skin inflammation due to chlorine in tap water. So about 20 years ago, he asked a friend of his to create a special shower head that could be filled with chemicals that would remove chlorine from the water as it passed through the head. The invention worked, and the daughter of the head of Science got rid of her problem. That's why Aoyama decided to make this device mass-produced.

Bubbles with a diameter of just three micrometres, which are released by its nozzles, are able to wash away dirt and chlorine from the skin. Since 2007, they have been bought not only for home use, but also for use in hospitals.

Now, Science is working with former Sanyo Electric engineers and scientists from Osaka University to create a washing machine for people. They have already equipped the prototype with a heart rate sensor. Thus, Project Usoyaro monitors the state of the nervous system of the person inside the device and adjusts the choice of images they see on the screen in front of them accordingly. Currently, the artificial intelligence is learning to select the most relaxing content to show to a person who is bathing. The developers hope that their device will be useful in hospitals and nursing homes to improve care for people. They also plan to sell it for home use.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Elon Musk showed a prototype of a humanoid robot that could replace a housekeeper and even work in production in the future.