A number of other companies are moving down the health check route besides Withings. For example, Japanese company Toto has developed the Wellness Toilet that uses artificial intelligence to analyse human waste while sensors in the seat record the user’s pulse and blood pressure.
Connected toilets can have other functions, too. For example, the washrooms of many public places such as airports and rail stations are now installing technology to connect users with the facility managers and allow them to rate the toilets according to their cleanliness and efficiency. ‘Smiley’ feedback panels that enable visitors to assess their washroom experience by pressing a red, amber or green button provide valuable data for washroom chiefs while also allowing them to respond immediately to any cleanliness concerns.
Connecting a washroom can also offer significant benefits for the cleaner. For example, Essity’s Tork Vision Cleaning allows cleaners to check the status of the soap and paper dispensers via a smartphone or tablet and respond immediately if any of them are running empty. This type of data-driven cleaning system can reduce the number of cleaning hours required by at least 20% and eliminate an average of 24% of rounds. And it can also ensure that dispensers are full and ready to use around 99% of the time.
As well as lightening the cleaner’s load, this type of system can also improve their job satisfaction because a well-maintained facility is likely to receive fewer complaints. Operatives can also ensure that timely cleaning is carried out because sensors and people- counters alert them to situations in which a toilet is proving particularly busy.
The supervisor can then use this data to identify those toilets attracting the highest levels of traffic, allowing them to streamline the cleaner’s walking routes accordingly.
www.tomorrowsfm.com
Raising standards, easing the cleaner’s burden and monitoring the user’s health are all excellent reasons to connect a washroom. But there are other, more frivolous ways in which technology can be used.
For example, a youth who Tweeted about a lack of toilet paper in his Virgin train cubicle back in 2015 made headlines when rail staff read his cry for help and delivered a replacement roll in real time.
Meanwhile, some venues are ‘connecting’ their washrooms via urinal video games that can be played through an LCD screen installed above pressure-sensitive urinals. Such installations allow visitors to play virtual football, drive a car or operate a tank while using the loo and then compare their score with that of other washroom visitors.
Some shopping centres in China now feature augmented reality screens in the ladies’ washrooms that allow women to virtually try on make-up and see the results in an ‘intelligent mirror’.
In extreme cases, smart washrooms are not without their risks, however. A string of recent cases in China led to smart toilets bursting into flames due to suspected short-circuits.
An unnamed victim in Fujian Province, China, noticed the smell of burning when using the loo late last year before plumes of white smoke started billowing from the toilet bowl. Photos taken by the man revealed that he had had no time to put on his shorts before the toilet started burning.
Other, similar instances happened in August 2022 and 2023, though luckily no-one was hurt in any of the incidences.
But these are isolated occurrences and it is clear that the benefits of connecting a toilet – namely, providing them with the ability to drive up standards, gather feedback, ease the cleaner’s burden and monitor the user’s health - far outweigh any risks.
www.tork.co.uk/visioncleaning TOMORROW’S FM | 39
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
