Fully automatic shower for humans

Osaka-based shower manufacturer Science Co. has developed an advanced "washing machine" called the "Mirai Ningen Sentakuki" (future human shower machine).

At the 1970 Osaka Kansai Expo , Japanese tech giant Sanyo Electric Co., now Panasonic Holdings Corp. , debuted the world's first human-sized bathing machine . Its egg-shaped shape and futuristic bubble technology captured people's imaginations.

The bathing machine is on display at an exhibition in Japan.

Yasuaki Aoyama was one of many who witnessed Sanyo's bath machine in action. He was just a curious fourth grader at the time. That sense of wonder has stayed with him throughout his adult life, and now, as president of Science Co., a company that makes bathtubs and showers, Aoyama is about to launch his own modern bath machine for humans.

Aoyama recently told Japanese reporters , "We will offer a new bathing machine as a legacy from the 1970 exhibition ," adding that the updated model will be introduced at the Osaka Kansai Exhibition in April 2025.

The first human bath machine used ultrasonic waves created by large air bubbles to clean the user and release plastic balls as a way to massage.

In contrast, the Mirai Ningen Sentakuki uses microscopic air bubbles , which are much more effective at cleansing the body. It also has advanced sensors that measure the user's pulse and other biological data to heat the water just right, and an AI system that determines whether the user is calm or excited, then projects images onto the machine's transparent coating to put them in the right mood.

The company says the cockpit-shaped device will be partially filled with hot water when the bather sits in the middle seat, then millions of microscopic bubbles will be released to cleanse the user's body. Yasuaki Aoyama says his company hopes to allow up to 1,000 people to use the innovative machine at next year's Osaka Expo.

Science Co. has been working on a human bathing machine for several years now. Oddity Central first wrote about the product back in 2022. While the design of the original prototype has changed significantly, it's worth noting that the company is sticking to its original 2025 launch target.