Global health and wellness holding company XWell has partnered with Clockwork to launch AI-driven robot manicures in select US XpresSpa airport spas.

Beginning in Q1 2023, XWell will launch up to five of Clockwork’s robots across its 28 spa locations during an initial three-month period. XWell plans to deploy as many as 25 units across the business.

During the Clockwork MiNiCURE, an autonomous robot will couple AI with 3D camera technology to take pictures of each guest’s nails in order to paint them safely, quickly and accurately in 10 minutes without human intervention.

Travellers start the process by selecting their nail polish, loading the cartridge into the machine and then using a touch screen for a self-guided tutorial on the process. Once the customer places their hands on a designated handrest and says, “ready,” the robot begins painting one nail at a time.

“The partnership with Clockwork is a natural extension of our strategy to further leverage technology solutions to refresh our airport offerings,” said Scott Milford, XWell CEO.

“We’re making self-care even more accessible by bringing high-quality, fast and affordable manicures to airport travellers.”

Clockwork founder and CEO, Renuka Apte, added: “Travelling can be stressful and often, people don’t have time to squeeze in a trip to the salon before a business trip or vacation.

“We love that we can transform the time wasted waiting for a flight into an efficient, 10-minute beauty service that helps people feel more put together and ready for their trip.”

In the 2021 edition of the Spa Business Handbook, Dr Mary Tabacchi, PhD, RD and professor emerita at Cornell University, predicted that AI would be one of the biggest industry disruptors going ahead. Follow this link to read her take on why AI is an asset to both the spa and wellness industry and hospitality more generally.

More about XWell

XWell (formerly XpresSpaGroup) operates four brands:

• XpresSpa is an airport spa operator, with 28 locations in 13 airports globally.• Treat is a travel health and wellness brand which blends technology with traditional brick-and-mortar offerings to provide a holistic approach to physical and mental wellbeing for travellers, currently located in three airports.

• XpresCheck provides COVID-19 screening and diagnostic testing in partnership with the CDC and Concentric by Ginkgo, conducting bio-surveillance monitoring in its airport locations to identify new SARS-CoV2 variants of interest and concern as well as other pathogens entering the US from across the world.• HyperPointe is a digital healthcare and data analytics relationship company serving the global healthcare industry.