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Show HN: I'm building a robot that performs haircuts [video]
- ropiwqefjnpoa 7y agoI am immediately reminded of this cautionary tale: https://pbfcomics.com/comics/automatic-business/ https://pbfcomics.com/comics/automatic-business/
- knolax 7y agoSelf driving cars, barbers, why can't they test their experimental robotic control systems on things that don't kill/maim people so easily?
- scandox 7y agoWould suit me. I get a blade 2 all over every 6 weeks. I always wanted to setup super cheap kiosk-based hair cutting (I was going to call it RyanHair), but I basically felt the clippers were going to be stolen all the time.
- tvanbeek 7y agohttps://ryanhair.lu/ https://ryanhair.lu/
- jermaustin1 7y agoI wonder how many people get a similar, clippers only, non-styled, hair cut. I remember when I played football in middle school, we had a maximum hair length of 2 inches (and couldn't touch your ear or shirt collar), so we pretty much all just got 0/2 fades or buzz cuts every month from one of the teammates mom for $5. Wasn't a bad business. She made $150-200 in a single day in a couple of hours.
- throw332258f6 7y agoNow a robot is about to rob a mom somewhere of a decent job. Soon a kitchen robot will make another mom afraid of the kitchen since she will not spend any time there but the question is are robbers going to get their jobs taken by robots? Robot robbers fancy anyone? Or Rob-o-robot?
- Melting_Harps 7y ago> Now a robot is about to rob a mom somewhere of a decent job. Soon a kitchen robot will make another mom afraid of the kitchen since she will not spend any time there but the question is are robbers going to get their jobs taken by robots? Robot robbers fancy anyone? Or Rob-o-robot? F*cking Kek! You guys and your collective aversions to laugh at the 'automate away every job' narrative is why people have to create throwaways to make that joke... its so sad. I'm personally waiting for 'chef-bot' to do all my heavy lifting, tedious prep work and cleaning so I can just focus on the fun stuff in a kitchen. Hell, I'd probably have the motivation to work in tech/startup in the mornings and kitchens in the evenings like I did in my 20s if that were the case. I say bring it on! Edit: Haha, not even 25 seconds on the downvote... you guys are a riot.
- overcast 7y agoWhy would you bother paying someone to give you a basic training cut? Just buy the clippers and #2 blade.
- scandox 7y agoI hate owning things
- ASalazarMX 7y agoI've tried, but it's not worth it. DIY is more difficult, you need more than one mirror, you have to clean all the hair, and it definitely takes more of your time. I have the blades but only use them for the beard.
- uoaei 7y agoIf it's a #2 all over you'll have no problem finding the remaining patches with your hands. No mirrors needed, just feel your head. This is true for most guards about #4 and below. Above that and the length of the hairs are not different enough to feel the differences.
- blacksmith_tb 7y agoI used to cut my hair (and my friends') as an undergrad, so I picked up a clipper about 9mo ago and started doing mine again (and my son's, if he'll hold still...). It's fine, I rarely get it perfect on the first go, but I just tidy up the next day. The clipper cost less than a single trip to a barber...
- ASalazarMX 7y ago#4 every two months, it saves so much time.
- jws 7y agoJust tie it back and let it go. It’s been about 10 years since I’ve had a haircut.
- dopeboy 7y agoHey HN I'm the founder behind this. I'm a guy and I'm tired of: * Waiting for a haircut when I book an appointment. * The inconvenience of only having one barber that knows our style, especially when I'm traveling for work. * The cost of a haircut, which can push beyond $50 here in the bay area. So we're building a robot that comes in kiosk form and lives in airports, malls, and offices. You book an appointment, come in, get your cut, and go about your day; all without talking to anyone. We're in open beta and charging $6 for neck fuzz cuts here in downtown Oakland. If you're interested, pop over an email (arithmetic@gmail.com).
- cwingrav 7y agoIt was bad enough robots were taking over. Now they're gonna make us look bad before they do. /s Interesting project. Good luck with it.
- DyslexicAtheist 7y agoI wonder how much a hair dresser in the bay area makes, and how far they have to travel from their tiny apartment to reach their work place, where $50 are charged for a haircut. have you considered donating all your revenues to a foundation that teaches future unemployed hair dressers how to code? /s If not what else do you do to be able to sleep at night?
- mikeyouse 7y agoI frequent one of those $50 places in SF and my most recent barber has driven in from Fresno and was crashing on a friend’s couch while he cut hair for the weekend.
- g_langenderfer 7y agoObviously there's a trade off between unemployed hair dressers and users, who save money. In dollar terms, I don't think it's fair to assume harm to hairdressers is greater than benefit to users, which, I suspect, far outweighs cost to hairdressers.
- brontide 7y ago
- schpaencoder 7y agoPlease sit VERY still for a couple of minutes.
- daenz 7y agoI've had a similar idea for awhile, and since you seem to be actively working on it, let me share some of my thoughts: If you had a very close camera that touched the head, you could map a person's head pore-by-pore. By looking at nearest neighbor surrounding pores, the camera should be able to determine exactly where it is on the person's skull. The cutting device should be a small vacuum attached to the camera that can suck up a few strands at a time and trim those precisely. By combining the perfect pore mapping to the precise strand cutting, you could write an app to customize the exact haircut you wanted, and the cutter should be robust enough to handle it, even with unintentional movement. EDIT>> A modification: the vacuum cutter can also serve as a strand-measuring device. So you could go to an actual hair cutting salon, get your hair cut perfectly, then visit the device, which will go over your pore-mapped head and measure all of the strands to remember your "perfect" haircut.
- sumguysr 7y agoI'd go with a forehead rest and camera to register facial features position to control for head movement, and just use a vacuum tube/trimmer with some type of length sensor in order to sample length at every 2mm of the scalp, then recreate it at a later time.
- choeger 7y agoThe last sentence won't work. The haircut will be copyrighted. Sooner or later, there will be head-DRM (vulgo helmets).
- summitsummit 7y agothis is literally the exact same idea I’ve had. except I was also considering some sort of static device that when touched would raise all your hair on edge rather than just a small surface area under the vacuum.
- seiferteric 7y agoHow well would that work with curly hair?
- 7y ago
- ASalazarMX 7y agoHow strong is this arm? Could it pinch and break the neck of the user?
- dopeboy 7y agoHi ASalazarMX - no it couldn't. We have software constraints around speed and position. Additionally, there's hardware checks that shut down the arm if it moves too fast and/or encounters too much pressure.
- ASalazarMX 7y agoThanks for answering. For a moment I let my imagination run wild and pictured a spy hacking your barber to commit the perfect crime. Edit: Since you mentioned it's an UR3, its payload is probably the same as the UR3e (3 Kg), so no neck breaking strength. Maybe strangulation if the user cooperates.
- Max_Mustermann 7y ago> Maybe strangulation if the user cooperates. Clearly another untapped business opportunity.
- rafaelvasco 7y agoVery important point about the hardware check. Always have hardware fallback in case software fails;
- robofanatic 7y agoWith all due respect, Rube Goldberg's dream is coming true!
- spurgu 7y agoSlightly more sophisticated than this one: https://youtu.be/yQSh1MWIdVU?t=223 https://youtu.be/yQSh1MWIdVU?t=223
- losthobbies 7y agoI thought this was going to be a Simone Giertz video. I hope this takes off, I really don't like the ordeal of getting my hair cut, the ability to sit in a Haircut-o-matic and listen to a podcast or some music would be great.
- realbarack 7y agoCool stuff! How long until straight razor is released? ;)
- dopeboy 7y agoI see your smile but I thought I'd answer anyways :) A while. We've had folks ask about it and we're going to stay away from it for now for the obvious reasons. Close to 50% of all haircuts are clipper cuts so we think there's a large enough market there.
- martin-adams 7y agoImpressive work. It'll be fascinating to see how fast these innovations can go. It does remind me of the Robot Tattoo Machine from a few years back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnLEG3kWSko https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnLEG3kWSko
- dthakur 7y agoIs the arm a UR3e? How much does it cost?
- dopeboy 7y agoThis is the not the 'e' edition. I think the 3e's cost around ~$24k. The standard UR3 is discontinued as far as I know.
- marknadal 7y agoAll I saw was a robot wielding a vibrating razor blade with an arm and terror strike across my face. Impressive chops, I must say, but the DOD will want to hire you sooner than Uber for Barbers.
- kt103099 7y agoA cautionary note ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lgluqEiQow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lgluqEiQow
- aivisol 7y agoor Charlie Chaplin in "Modern Times" (not barber, but you have an idea)
- Tempest1981 7y agoThe Jetsons haircut helmet (same era?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XrfriIKjbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XrfriIKjbs And full morning routine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0S3Jf-NxdI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0S3Jf-NxdI
- defnmacro 7y agoPersonally I think this is a fantastic idea, I always have an issue with barbers getting wildly different hairstyles from the same specifications, a few inches off top with scissors, 3 buzz on the sides, you'd be surprised the variation that occurs from that simple specification.
- cbames89 7y agoGreat improvement since the last video! Are you just using Jacobian transpose for force control on the neck? I ask because it seems a bit stiff, the red marks on the neck of the test subject suggested to me that maybe there's a lot of noise in your force sensing, or at least unmodeled behavior. Due to the slow growth of test subject hair, have you found 6$ to be cheap enough to keep your test cycles short enough? The kinematic configuration of the arm looks odd, did you pick this to maximize rank of the Jacobian or the manipulability matrix?
- dopeboy 7y agoAwesome questions, I appreciate the curiosity. We're using the stock force control software and plan to tweak it soon. I couldn't tell you how it works under the hood. We use mannequin to test and then, other body parts [0]. Long term, we want to invest in a better testing harness. Open to ideas on how to do that. [0] - https://twitter.com/manishsinhaha/status/1202078849619513345 https://twitter.com/manishsinhaha/status/1202078849619513345
- cbames89 7y agoUR website[0] seems to suggest +- 10N (a kilo resting on your neck) with their stock implementation. I imagine you're going to want something better than that. What Force/Torque sensor do you use? Some of them are temperature sensitive and require a good warm-up period before they can be used to achieve good performance. [0]https://www.universal-robots.com/how-tos-and-faqs/how-to/ur-how-tos/urscript-dynamic-force-control-20571/ https://www.universal-robots.com/how-tos-and-faqs/how-to/ur-...
- ladberg 7y agoNot OP but I've written custom force control code for a UR5e. There's a six axis force sensor on the end effector for the e model which has a pretty noisy raw output. After some filtering we were able to get a pretty sensitive controller. I didn't measure it, but far less than 10N.
- 7y ago
- sanj 7y agoThe screen saying "CALIBRATED, BAD" is a little disconcerting.
- dopeboy 7y agoAgreed. That's our system that keeps track of whether you stay still. It's a little too sensitive and needs some tweaking.
- ryanmercer 7y agoNnnnnnnnnope, not letting a robot anywhere near my head with sharp stuff. Have you thought about how you will get people comfortable with this idea? Even with clippers, with a guard, you can still do some damage to someone's skin (and, you know, giving them a horrendous looking haircut). I'd imagine many people would be extremely wary of such a contraption. >So we're building a robot that comes in kiosk form and lives in airports, malls, and offices. You book an appointment, come in, get your cut, and go about your day; all without talking to anyone. How are you handling sanitation? Actually cleaning all the hair up? Water for easier cutting (dry hair, curly hair, etc changing the moisture levels can change the ease of cutting)? Washing hair that has product in it? Adding product? Upselling and making a good chunk of your profit by selling overpriced product? What about the fact that this is all regulated at a state level in the United States and most (if not all) require a cosmetology license to cut hair with varying levels of education and hours required before. What about other public health laws/requirements? Dropping a salon in a mall, in a contained area, is one thing but dropping a kiosk in the middle of an airport or mall is another. What sort of system do you plan for when someone is unsatisfied with the outcome? How do you plan to handle "no I don't like that, can you change it a little"? What about the fact that human heads are not uniform or even symmetrical? What about natural parts? How does the buyer communicate they want their sidebrowns at this level, their bangs at this level, keep/lose the widow's peak, etc? What about people that don't want a bowl cut or a buzz cut? What about someone that has lice? Open wounds? Isn't remotely clean? Will it confuse excessively dry skin with lice and refuse service? What happens when a pair of clippers snag on someone's hair, do they just sit there waiting for a passerby to cut their hair so they can be freed? Do they wait for mall security to tell them it's time to leave because the mall is closing? Do they have to wait for the kiosk babysitter to come back from their smoke break? What if there is a power outage? Mechanical failure? Does the person leave with only a percentage of their hair cut, is there a second system that can resume, is there a battery backup, will the components most prone to failure be able to be replaced in that session by the equipment to continue? How do you clean the chair that gets sat in? The floor around it? Hair will fall, regardless of a vacuum. How will you minimize noise? Filter the exhaust? How often will the filter(s) need serviced? What happens if there is a vacuum/suction failure and hair is being left behind? How well will the system identify black hair on someone with dark skin? Blonde hair on someone with very light skin? Pink hair? Blue hair? Curly hair? What if someone is balding considerably, how will it identify where to cut/not to cut? What if someone has a beard, how will it know where to terminate? What if they have bushy eyebrows? Will it confuse a several hundred dollar wool/cashmere sweater with the person's hair? How will it handle hair that is longer than a few inches?
- tabtab 7y agoSeems to me it would be hard to get insurance on such. If something goes wrong, it could blind somebody, burn their face, etc.
- kleer001 7y agoOh dear god Jesus Mary Joseph and all the saint NO. This is too slow and too rigid. Scanning won't work in the real world. There's no immediate feedback from the surface. You'll want something with whiskers and you'll want something on a semi-flexible armature. That industrial arm is terrifying. Test it on a wriggling child.
- samtimalsina 7y agoNot a regular commenter, but I had to reply. I think everyone here agrees this is just a prototype/early work. Why would you be so dismissive of a tool that someone is building from scratch? They are not claiming it is a finished product. Jesus, tone it down.
- kleer001 7y agoWhy? A couple reasons. Sure we could argue semantics, but to me putting together off the shelf software and hardware isn't "building a robot", but maybe that the vernacular these days. None of that is from scratch. It seems that its being billed as nearly ready to go. > we're building a robot that comes in kiosk form and lives in airports, malls, and offices. Just let my comment stand for the man-on-the-street view, ignorant of the technical specifics. No way am I letting a robot shave my head.
- Udik 7y agoThat is never gonna work. Seriously. Cutting hair is a highly manual job, requiring precision use of a number of different tools- some pretty dangerous- on an irregular, soft and constantly moving surface. Covered in, well, long, irregularly shaped hair. The idea of a hair cutting robot is fun, but it's decades or more ahead of what we can do.
- perl4ever 7y agoIt seems a lot easier than driving a car, and your description of the task sounds like surgical robots, which are a thing already, with superhuman capabilities.
- austinhutch 7y agoWhen I lived in the bay area I always said the biggest hikes in cost of living were the rent (obviously) and the haircuts (surprisingly!)
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- memn0nis 7y agoThis is great! I'd love to pop into a store to use something like this. Looking forward to seeing the next iteration;
- frk1206 7y agoAwesome stuff! Amazing to see the progress and how you are taking this step by step
- thrownaway954 7y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK7_VSpTyVY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK7_VSpTyVY Just saying
- squish78 7y agoMy barbershop comes with a cool feature called human interaction, which is useful for raising serotonin levels in the brain.
- catalogia 7y agoThere is a certain sort of personality that despises that sort of human contact. But I don't expect they're a large enough portion of the population to make such a robot commercially viable. (Also that demographic is already served by hair-cutting vacuum cleaner gadgets.)
- opportune 7y agoUsually I find barbers don’t even try talking to me because they tend to be older and their clients tend to be older so they don’t know what to say. And I look a lot younger than I am. Not that I want to talk to them anyway, due to awkwardness, but seeing all the other barbers talking to their clients and mine not even trying to talk to me somehow makes it even worse
- catalogia 7y agoMy barber always leaves a TV running in the corner. If you're in a talkative mood he's more than happy to chat, but if you're the quiet sort he's content to work quietly and listen to the TV instead. (I'm not a huge fan of TV, but it's prompted some interesting conversations about motor sports, of which he's a fan but which I know fairly little about.) Before I found my current barber, I used to go to a 'hair salon' sort of place that had very talkative hip young hairdressers. They were always friendly but I found them harder to relate to. It was also a lot more crowded which didn't help, and they always seemed a little disappointed when I asked for a regular haircut.
- larnmar 7y agoPersonally I’d love a (competent) hair cutting robot because I simply don’t have time. The only day of the week I can get my hair cut is Saturday; I meant to get it done last Saturday, ran out of time, now I’m going out of town next Saturday and I am stuck looking terrible for the rest of the year. If there were a robot at the mall I could get it done at 9pm on a Tuesday or whenever I have a moment.
- vsskanth 7y agoI understand this is a prototype, but for your own safety, please use a dummy head to test. This arm should go nowhere near your head unless you're absolutely sure it has all the necessary safeguards tested to not cause significant harm. Edit: Looks like your twitter has vids showing tests with a dummy. However, its still scary.
- sansnomme 7y agoThere is no better way for a software engineer to learn about the perils of poor software and machine learning than to go under the knife (literally). Cambridge Analytica and the constant fearmongering about data collection ultimately has very few immediate and direct impacts. The designers of Canadian/French radiotherapy machines never had to dogfood their own product. This on the other hand, has a very quick and immediate feedback loop. If one were to graduate from building robots to building e.g. airliner control systems, a bit of skin off the tip of the ear or scalp would pay for itself several times over if you factor in the loss of an airliner. https://www.imgur.com/gallery/r2fW2o7 https://www.imgur.com/gallery/r2fW2o7
- vsskanth 7y agoI get your point, but in this case, that arm is operating on its own without complete control by the user (I assume). Its not the same as playing with something. It can go very, very wrong if that arm has a bug and there's no force feedback based cutoff.
- sansnomme 7y agoModern day razors are very safe and the worst that could happen is a clipped ear or a scratched scalp. Messy yes but hardly deadly. Just remember to restrict the movement state space of the arm so it can never be in front you (don't want it near eyes).
- paggle 7y agoThe Suck-Cut cuts... as it sucks.
- eplanit 7y agoIt seems you could make version with a Flowbee[1] attached to the arm. [1] https://www.flowbee.com/ https://www.flowbee.com/
- dopeboy 7y agoeplanit, right there with you. There's a couple variables ahead in our list (precision, speed, repeatability) but cleaning up the hair will eventually get added to that list. My hunch is we'll start exerting tighter control over the end effector (which is just a Wahl trimmer right now) as we mature.
- andbberger 7y agoReminds me of this somewhat terrifying robotic sheep shearer from the 80s [1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZAh2zv7TMM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZAh2zv7TMM
- ryanmercer 7y agoWell, I'll be having nightmares tonight.
- andbberger 7y agoSorry about that.
- kingkawn 7y agoWayne & Garth demo’d an early version of this concept decades ago: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AioVDsXidh0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AioVDsXidh0
- glofish 7y agoWhat you are showing is not a haircut, the robot "shaves" the neck area - very slowly at that. Frankly, the approach does not seem suited to cutting hair. People will move their heads even involuntarily. Plus there is a lot more finesse needed for cutting hair than shaving.
- zoomablemind 7y agoDoesn't look scarry in the video at all. Smooth and careful. Yet, since the time savings are part of the advertized convenience, I wonder if a robot would be able to trim/shave as fast as a human stylist. The usual neck fuzz job is 10 sec at most for even student barber. Sure, you could save booking/wating time, but the actual service time may still be bottlenecked by safety and precision requirements. So subjectively this could feel as dreadful, unless you'd mix in some interaction to mask the time flow. Good luck!
- rukittenme 7y agoI can't imagine how many frantic "^C^C^C^C"'s there were. Still has a full head of hair! Great job on the prototype.
- gildandstain 7y agoThe Flowbee seems like a natural pairing for this project. I've never used one, but it looks like it eliminates the finesse factor for getting all the hairs of a given length in a given stroke. And of course reduces itchy cleanup.
- system2 7y agoUnless it sucks at the same time, it won't get the right length for any section. Or something needs to pull the hair per section.
- rookiemaverick 7y agoWhat’s about using laser for cutting hairs ? Not everyone’s heads surface is even e.g. I have a type of pimple in my head . And to use blades is more risky. There are laser treatment for hair removal. I think same can be used for cutting the hairs with the help of few other tools. Also, it will be more accurate, quicker, easier and safe to map the length of hair and then cut it via using laser.
- coupdejarnac 7y agoDo a quick experiment and report back: get a lighter and burn a few hairs off your arm. Now, imagine that smell times 1000.
- outworlder 7y agoSure, if you can put up with the terrible smell. And lasers strong enough to burn hairs being deployed by automated robots? The first stray laser (either direct or reflected) at someone's retina will shutdown this idea quick.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- d-d 7y agoI used to be excited by new technology. Now I'm thinking we're just automating ourselves into a far, far worse existence largely driven by greed.
- mitfahrener 7y agoDo you need to hold your head really still? What happens if you move your head after scanning?
- dopeboy 7y agoIt doesn't matter if you move after the scan, so long as the orientation of your head is the same, you're good. You do need to stay pretty still during the cut and we have the screen + camera up front to assist you with that.
- davidclarke_au 7y agoPatented yet?
- tylerjwilk00 7y agoCool concept. Spouses are good temporary workaround until this becomes mainstream. They also have the benefit of being multifunctional which provides a good ROI ;)
- puranjay 7y agoClippers might be fine, but it'll take a brave man to try this with a pair of scissors
- bane 7y agoAlso try the amazing flowbee https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowbee https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowbee
- nodesocket 7y agoThis is shaving a neck, not cutting hair. Not even close in terms of difficulty.
- King-Aaron 7y agoBaby steps.
- Y-Bopinator 7y agoI have cut my own hair with a $20 cordless hair cutter for over a year. Good luck solving problems that don’t exist.
- thomzi12 7y agoAwesome! Some quick comments: * What about non-human use cases, like shearing pets between seasons? If you can solve getting pets to stay still could be a possible initial use case. Seems easier to get traction! * As pitched, this seems more like an add-on than standalone product. Where could this be an add-on? Airport bar? Airport massage parlor? You need people to get into the door, the haircut won't be it but it can be part of the experience! * Would salons/barbers be interested in buying this device so that they can service more customers, i.e. increase customers/hour or a similar metric? Run some surveys/ask owners to find out! * Youtube video for the next iteration of the product can be sharper ... see something like Paolo from Tokyo videos, etc. Editing matters. You want this idea to go viral!
- dopeboy 7y agoAwesome questions & comments thomzi12. 1) Possibly. It's not something we've explored though I am told by many pet owners that getting them to stay still is a challenging task. 2) I might disagree with you there; we're trying to create the barbershop of the future. It will live in airports, malls, and offices. 3) Yes and we're starting those conversations. 4) I hear you. I personally care a lot about presentation and what you're seeing now is the floor of our capabilities. It will only get better as we grow.
- ryanmercer 7y ago> we're trying to create the barbershop of the future I think you are wholly out of touch with barbershops in most of the country. They are social places. People go, sit for 15, 30, 60 minutes waiting for their haircut talking to each other. In the past several years a lot of them have gone back to the 'old timey' setup with the 'old timey' garb even. The barbers don't just run some clippers over your head as fast as they can, they take their time. Even if you want a #2 all over they're going to use scissors, clippers and a straight razor. They're going to use warm lather to create crisp, shaved, lines, they're going to talk to you, you're going to talk to them, you're going to talk to other people sitting around, you might play a game of chess or checkers with the person next to you while you wait. Barber shops, for many decades, have been social hubs. Places for men to go for an hour or two and shoot the shinola. Have you actually visited non-chain barbershops? Have you talked to any barbers or stylists? People build relationships with their clients, barbers and stylists have social media presences even now where they show off their skills and highlight clients. What you are trying to create is a way to save the military money when they process people at basic training, which will probably actually cost them time as a skilled barber can do a buzz cut comparable with what your machine will do in a fraction of the time. Even chain establishments, like Sport clips, sell you an experience. Every employee is wearing referee garb, everything is sports themed, sports content are on the televisions, the stores are decorated like locker rooms, hot towel, neck massagers, scalp wash, beard/neck trimming, etc. What you're trying to replace is people like you that don't seem to like interacting with human beings and want everything as efficient as possible and just want a buzz cut. Most people are not like this. You're going to have a very tiny customer base, if your product can even legally be used (this stuff is regulated on a state by state basis, requires licensing, requires certain health standards, requires a human and varying amounts of training, zoning comes into play for where you can set up shop etc). I also offered you dozens of questions elsewhere in the thread, none of which you addressed. There are a LOT of hurdles here. I think you are in desperate need of actually talking to stylists/barbers, visiting some barbershops and salons and doing some reading research. https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/23/black-barbershops-photo-essay-interview https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/23/black-barbershops-photo-... https://www.wnyc.org/story/fear-black-barbershop/ https://www.wnyc.org/story/fear-black-barbershop/ https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/rediscovering-the-barbershop/ https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/rediscovering-the-ba... https://www.forbes.com/sites/bisnow/2017/07/06/barbershops-are-back-and-bucking-retail-trends/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/bisnow/2017/07/06/barbershops-a... https://www.ogleschool.edu/blog/resurgence-of-the-great-american-barbershop/ https://www.ogleschool.edu/blog/resurgence-of-the-great-amer... https://business.mindbody.io/education/blog/barber-shops-trend-will-not-fade-away https://business.mindbody.io/education/blog/barber-shops-tre... https://nearsay.com/c/456502/306271/why-barbershops-have-seen-a-resurgence-in-popularity https://nearsay.com/c/456502/306271/why-barbershops-have-see... https://scandinaviantraveler.com/en/lifestyle/retro-barbershops-are-making-a-trendy-comeback https://scandinaviantraveler.com/en/lifestyle/retro-barbersh...
- jansan 7y agoYou should get an emergency stop button, one of those yellow boxes with a red button. They are cheap and could prove useful in your case to prevent a bloody massacre.
- mgoetzke 7y agoWould rather have an ironing machine, but kudos to the work that already went into this :)
- hoare 7y agoThis reminds me of the machine starred in the "Casper, the friendly ghost" movie i watched as a kid. I hope you run more QA though. Would love to see your 2nd Prototype. Keep up the good work!