You Can Now Have Your Nails Painted By A Robot At Target?
Target customers can now get their nails perfectly painted by an all-new clockwork robot.
The future is finally here. At Target, you can get your nails painted by an autonomous robot. So far, only a few stores have this futuristic function, but it’s making waves across the internet and attracting much attention for the massive retailer. Target already has instated technology to help shoppers ring up products quicker, but a nail-painting robot is definitely a concept most people wouldn’t believe is now available in stores.
This talented robot is the creation of Clockwork, a manicure company that has been specializing in nail-painting technological advancements. The first Clockwork machine at Target is located in Walnut Creek, California. Shoppers at the store can book and pay for their manicures entirely online. Once booked, the customer will approach the robot and set their finger into the machine. The selected finger will go under an automated pen-like device, which will dispense nail polish on the nail with unmatched poise and detail. The machine will fill the nail with paint, without any of those messy-looking brush strokes.
Though the robot has had much success so far, a Target employee is surveilled by the autonomous machine to ensure the procedure is going smoothly. Other than loosely monitoring the device, the Target employee is there to explain the Clockwork robot’s instructions and can answer questions a shopper might have about the process. Though the machine has been noted to administer tiny errors like polish drippage, for the most part, customers have been satisfied with the nail-painting robot.
As of February 2022, three other stores have included the Clockwork machine for customers’ enjoyment. Two robots are in Targets in the San Fransisco Bay Area, while the other is in the retailer’s home base state of Minnesota. With four stores containing this autonomous device, Target wants to see how shoppers around the country react to this innovative machine before dispensing more. So far, customers seem to be enamored with a robot that knows how to paint nails. If the robots continue to receive positive feedback, three more will be added in the southern United States. According to Clockwork’s founder Renuka Apte, three more stores will receive the device in the Dallas-Forth Worth area.
For such an innovative product, the Clockwork nail-painting robot is relatively cheap. For a 10-minute manicure, a customer will only have to pay $10, with $2 additional off for first-time clients. A complex algorithm inside the Clockwork machine enables the robot to work quickly without spilling polish everywhere.
These mighty machines rely on cameras and various data to function correctly. Once a finger enters the machine, two cameras are employed instantly to snap photographs of your nail. About 100 photos are taken to get the nail’s complete profile. After the cameras do their work, a 3-D model is constructed of your nail within the robot. Once the model is fully visualized, the machine will be able to identify the shape, curve, and size of your nail for optimal nail painting. The final step is the release of the Clockwork robot’s pipette, which will then traverse your nail at the perfect speed and duration.
