Retail Studios
Defining a new category of Robotic Bodywork through distinctive, yet approachable experience design
In preparation for its public launch, pioneering AI robotic massage brand, Aescape turned to Cactus to develop its studio user experience and replicable ‘kit of parts’ for rapid retail deployment.
Cactus created a new brand, digital ecosystem, and architectural approach for the new company’s first clinical launch. Each aspect of the project is crafted to balance a sense of play and joy with a sense of reliability and institutional strength.Leveraging the support and convenience of a digital community, we worked to design a system that fostered fundamental trust between a child, a child’s family, and their care provider.
We worked closely with the Aescape team to prototype and fabricate the first pods for their first studio pilot, with later iterations designed for mass production.
The pod is the distillation of the brand form language that can stand-alone beyond the studio. It is inspired by the intersecting clasp of technology and humanity, and represents our promise of rejuvenation. Its form reflected key design elements, such as the curvature and rounded edges of the massage table surface.
Cactus created a new brand, digital ecosystem, and architectural approach for the new company’s first clinical launch. Each aspect of the project is crafted to balance a sense of play and joy with a sense of reliability and institutional strength.Leveraging the support and convenience of a digital community, we worked to design a system that fostered fundamental trust between a child, a child’s family, and their care provider.
Our team partnered with Aescape leadership to develop a replicable, modular “pod” system to help the brand scale across the country, creating a consistent, controlled experience around the technology as it is installed in hotels, gyms, airports, and retail storefronts globally. In any context, the pod offers a branded environment for the brand to shine.
How to define a whole new consumer category at the intersections of wellness and robotics?We created a user experience that curated human hospitality touchpoints, digital way-finding, and architecture to inspire more regularity than a spa, diminish robotic novelty, and make it fit into an everyday routine. We drew inspiration from massage’s human touch, natural materiality, and the contours of the human body.
How to define a whole new consumer category at the intersections of wellness and robotics?
We created a user experience that curated human hospitality touchpoints, digital way-finding, and architecture to inspire more regularity than a spa, diminish robotic novelty, and make it fit into an everyday routine. We drew inspiration from massage’s human touch, natural materiality, and the contours of the human body.
How to define a whole new consumer category at the intersections of wellness and robotics?We created a user experience that curated human hospitality touchpoints, digital way-finding, and architecture to inspire more regularity than a spa, diminish robotic novelty, and make it fit into an everyday routine. We drew inspiration from massage’s human touch, natural materiality, and the contours of the human body.
Our retail strategy defined the service rituals, retail product mix, and adjacent amenities that help define this new consumer experience and deepen their connection to the Aescape brand.
