Short cycle for a shower, long cycle for a bath? Although the details of the programs offered are not yet known, there is no doubt that the Japanese company Science Co already promises to attract attention next year. Based in Osaka (Japan), the shower head manufacturer is to present a washing machine for humans.
This concept will be unveiled during the Universal Exhibition, which will take place in Osaka from April 13 to October 13, 2025. Here, it will no longer be a question of filling a machine with laundry but a real person, points out the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. But the objective remains the same: to get out of the machine clean.
A shower given to 1,000 visitors to the Osaka Kunai World Expo
Although the idea is intriguing, it is not the first time that a machine of this type has been put forward. The original concept is more than 50 years old and had already become known during a Universal Exhibition held in Japan in 1970. At the time, it was the Japanese company Sanyo which wanted to find an alternative to showers and bathtubs. The idea ended in a commercial failure which did not deviate the company from success since today it is the consumer electronics specialist Panasonic.
Japan between traditions and modernity photographed by the GEO Community
But this time, Science Co’s proposal could appeal by taking advantage of all the advantages of current technology. The “Mirai Ningen Sentakuki” – literally, human washing machine of the future – will try to convince the most skeptical by offering use to 1,000 visitors to the Osaka Kunai World Expo. Every day, seven to eight curious people can be washed and dried by the device.
The washing machine takes the form of a cockpit seemingly taken straight from a science fiction film with a large transparent window giving it the appearance of a spaceship. Once the user is installed, hot water partially fills the machine. Sensors within the seat collect data such as pulse or other biological measurements.
The president of Science Co among the guinea pigs of the 1970 washing machine
The artificial intelligence system that accompanies the machine thus determines whether the water temperature is suitable, whether the person seated is calm or excited. Images can be projected onto the cockpit window to relax the user. However, no information is given on how the machine washes and dries a person.
The creation is a direct homage to the object presented in 1970 and presents itself as such. It must be said that the boss of Science Co, Yasuaki Aoyama, was one of the visitors who were able to test the original concept. The experience had of course had an impact on him since at the time, many Japanese people went to public baths to wash. It remains to be seen whether the machine will remain a nostalgic creation or will disrupt morning routines.
