Traffic light systems that light up green when a cubicle is empty and then turn red when it is engaged help to speed up queues. Such systems are particularly suitable for busy facilities in airports and rail stations because they make it easier for visitors to pinpoint those cubicles that are available for use.
Smart dispensers are increasingly helping to ensure that washroom soap and paper supplies never need to run out. Sensors incorporated into washroom dispensers allow cleaners to check remotely on supplies of soap, toilet paper and hand towels. This removes the need for staff to make multiple journeys in order to physically check on dispenser status, saving time and freeing up resources.
Essity’s own Tork Vision Cleaning allows cleaners to monitor dispensers via a smartphone or tablet, while people-counters allow a facility to build up a profile of washroom visits. The office manager can use this data to identify those toilets that are attracting the highest levels of traffic. The cleaner’s walking routes can be streamlined accordingly, again saving time and allowing tasks to be prioritised more efficiently.
Technology in the washroom offers a wealth of other possibilities and is helping to improve efficiency, optimise hygiene and enhance the visitor experience everywhere.
For example, in China there is now a shopping centre where the washrooms allow women to virtually try on make-up. The toilets are fitted with high-tech mirrors that enable them to do this via augmented reality. The technology is designed to improve the visitor’s experience, take the tedium out of queueing and allow shoppers to continue to browse while waiting in line for the washroom.
Toilet technology is also helping people to stay on top of their health issues. An increasing number of washrooms are now able to analyse the visitor’s urine, temperature and heart rate to detect early signs of illness. For
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example, one cloud-connected toilet seat developed by the New York’s Rochester Institute of Technology is capable of tracking blood pressure and blood oxygen levels.
Scientists have also been examining new high-tech ways of detecting Covid-19 via the toilet. One system developed at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California carries out automated stool sampling and alerts the user to their test results within 15 minutes, while the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is able to analyse the wastewater in aircraft toilets to check for incoming diseases as well as new variants of Covid-19.
Meanwhile, high-tech toilets are providing people with a talking point in their own homes as well. Japanese lavatories have become legendary for offering features such as surround-sound speakers, heated seats and personalised cleansing and drying functions. Some of these loos also offer ambient mood lighting, voice control and hands-free opening and closing of the lid.
At CES 2024 in January, the latest incarnations of Japanese toilets included the Kohler Purewash E930 which can be programmed via voice command and features a stainless steel cleaning wand with UV lighting plus a night light.
The use of technology in the toilet has come a long way since those early automatic taps. While it began quietly with relatively simple touch-free systems it has now snowballed to feature the weird and wacky including disembodied voices, video games and holograms.
Fads will come and go and the technology companies of tomorrow will no doubt experiment with more wild and wonderful uses of digital systems in the washroom. But it will be the most practical uses of technology that will endure - those that make washroom use and facility management more efficient, speedier, more hygienic and safer.
www.tork.co.uk/visioncleaning TOMORROW’S FM | 29
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