24-fingered robot massages your head while washing your hair

Robots are usually designed to be helpful, but sometimes we can't help but wonder if they're making us lazy. Such is the case with a robot out of Japan that can wash your hair for you.

With Panasonic's robot, you simply lean back in a chair over a basin, and in three minutes the magic fingers will shampoo, massage and rinse your head--five minutes it you add conditioner and a blow dry.

As weird as a hair-washing robot sounds, this is not Panasonic's first delve into the hair-washing industry - last year, it produced a robot for giving your hair a thorough clean. The difference in this one is mainly that it has 24 robotic fingers instead of 16. This robot isn't just an excuse to be lazy, though; it's designed to help elderly or handicapped care for themselves, by washing in any way human fingers can too.

Panasonicplans on selling these robot guides to consumers sometime next year, but there's no indication of how much they'll cost or when they'll actually be released.

Considering people are living longer and are requiring more care in older age, this machine could be a massive aid to either carers visiting homes, hospitals, nursing homes or the elderly/ handicapped person themselves. Check out the video of the 16-finger version below to get a taste of how the robot works:

Reuters via Boing Boing]

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