Courtesy Clockwork
When you’re up for your next manicure, you can officially ditch the salon and head to Target, where a robot (yes, a robot) will paint your nails.
This bit of convenient fanciness is courtesy of Clockwork, an innovative AI machinery that will paint your nails for 10 minutes. Ditching the salon chair for a robot manicure might raise some eyebrows, but the experience at a Target during errands makes for a unique experience. The creation is the brainchild of Renuka Apte and Aaron Feldstein.
“It was a problem that none of Renuka other male colleagues had, and it stuck with her,” Clockwork’s CMO, Mara McCune, says. “They interviewed a ton of women and asked them what they wanted from their beauty services, and the overwhelming majority response was convenience. That's when they knew they wanted to solve this problem.”
Behind the colorful machinery lies all the mechanics of four years of work. When someone sits in front of the robot, it will take pictures of the nails using two 3D cameras and then stitch them together. The results are then shipped to the proprietary artificial intelligence, where the AI identifies edges. The algorithm determines how the nozzle should move and deposits the nail polish into the right places.
“You sit down and insert a cartridge of polish — similar to a Nespresso coffee pod — into the machine,” Mara explains. “You place your hand on a hand rest and then say ready voice-activated, and the robot paints your nails one finger at a time. It doesn't take ten minutes to paint, but by the time you sit down, pick your color, and get acquainted, it does. It is about getting comfortable the first time, putting your hand in, and getting relaxed.”
The MiNiCURE from Clockwork is available at only six locations worldwide — two happen to be in Fort Worth — and the team is working on rolling out more robots to more Target locations.
“When we think about what are some incredibly innovative consumer eccentric retailers we would want to partner with, Target rises to the top of the list,” Mara says. “We were excited when they reached out to us. We started having the conversation, and that led to a pilot program which will help drive traffic to their stores and make their stores a lot more experiential.”
Clockwork has been fine-tuning the robot over the last couple of years. At the end of 2018, the founders explored the idea, and in 2019, they tested their prototype. In late 2020, they had their first paid pilot project, leading them to have customers. The first ones arrived at Target during spring this year.
“The response we’re getting has been incredible,” Mara says. “The surprise and delight of watching a robot paint your nails is extremely exciting. What we’re hearing from our customers is that they’re enjoying the experience, and it’s more than they were expecting. The procession in which the robot paint is surprising and delightful.”
The cost of the MiNiCURE is roughly $10. The two Fort Worth Target locations are at City View and Fort Worth Central.
“We think about our mission as eliminating the mundane so people can get back to their lives and spend time on the things they enjoy,” she says. “It’s about saving you time and not spending the money that it takes but still having that end result, and doing the things you love and doing them with more swagger, and confidence in your stop when you got your fingers manicured.”
