How the Automatic Human Washing Machine would Look Like

- My imagination

I admit that I always procrastinate to take a shower as feeling lazy of the whole process of bathing. Since I was a kid, I have always dreamed of an automatic bathing machine. In my initial imagination, the machine looked like the picture below. The user float in the air somehow and the water covers the  body and wash with bubbles.

However, I noticed that there's no way for the user to breath in such a structure. Then I thought of a laundry machine model where the user should stand inside the machine and the water will be sprayed. I knew that there's such a hair washing machine in some developed hair salons since my sister tried it.

Then I wondered, it seems like we already have the technology to make it, but why such a product is not in the market yet? or is it just me who don't know that it exists? Finally I have decided to dig deeper using a super knowledge tool called Google.

- Bath Culture in Japan

I found this picture on twitter. This tweet about a dream human washing slider  got 27,100 retweets and 113,000 likes! This tells that there is a huge demand in the market for the bathing machine, at least... in Japan.

Japanese people usually take a bath every evening after work or school because the climate in Japan is highly humid and they sweat a lot and feel dirty in the end of the day. Besides that, bathing is an important part of Japanese culture. As Japan is known as a country that often has earthquakes, there are a lot of natural hot springs. Therefore it is normal to see more people dream of such a machine in Japan.

- Sanyo's Ultrasonic Bath

I found one article on the blog Vintage Everyday. 49 years ago in 1970, there was an automatic washing machine for human already existed! "Ultrasonic Bath" was developed by Sanyo Electronics, Japanese consumer electronics company, and exhibited at the 1970 World Expo in Osaka, Japan. It was a capsule type washing machine of 2 meters high, so the user had to climb up the ladder to get in. After the user seated and set the water temperature, 15 minutes washing process started. The process involved 5 minutes pre-rinse shower cycle, 3 minutes massage bath which chamber fills up with hot water and massage body with high pressure jets, 2 minutes hot rinse cycle, and 5 minutes dry cycle with warm air, while ultraviolet light killed any remaining bacteria.

Although I worry about the use of ultraviolet light, I am impressed with such sophisticated washing process and the fact that it was invented 49 years ago. However, I still wonder "what about hair?" and also "why isn't it still available to consumers?" while it was showcased in the world-class tech expo, did no company in the world take it serious? So I searched deeper and found out that Sanyo's idea and technology were developed into two directions. One is aesthetic use at salons, and another is medical use for elders and people who are unable to bath on their own at hospitals and nursing homes. 

- Evolution of Bathing Machine

Images of aesthetic washing machine above and video of medical washing machine below. (source article: https://matome.naver.jp/odai/2136658764379480301)

However, price of each machine is about 5,000,000 yen (= approx. $60,000 CAD) and still not affordable for consumers to use at home. I should keep on dreaming and should take a shower on my own even when I feel too lazy to move.

But here's a big news! It was just confirmed that the 2025 World Expo will be held in Osaka again! I can't wait to see the latest automatic human washing machine there!! (If there's any)

If you are from the company that makes such an exciting machine, why don't you hire Honami to do marketing for you? It is my dream to sell an automatic human washing machine...