Best High-Tech Toilet? 354
shellac writes "For a number of years now, Japan has had incredibly high-tech toilets, complete with a funky electronic control panel that controls a water jet for cleaning the posterior, a hot air blow dryer, a fake flushing sound to cover up those noisy "Dumb & Dumber" style sessions, a seat warmer, and other nice features, not to mention the occasional amusing gaijin encounter. Prototype models can also chemically analyze urine using lasers. The manufacturer, Toto, has made these available in the US and in other countries, but they have failed to largely fulfill their promised potential, despite their popularity in Japan. There is some evidence Kohler toilets is keeping these out of American markets. The toilets also appear to be a victim of poor marketing on Toto's part, which in all fairness may be due to Western advertising taboos that do not exist in Japan. I know I would love to have one of these, and I suspect many others would as well. What does that /. community think of these toilets? Can anyone post a personal review?"
Monte Carlo Casino Toilet (Score:4, Informative)
Truly high-tech toilet (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What is the use of a high tech toilet? (Score:2, Informative)
porno web sites, peep shows, street walkers,
massage parlors, pedophilia (priests and
other assorted perverts), beastiality, porno mags (hustler, jugs, etc), porno comic books (heavy metal etc) among other sexual deviancies. These people go to Las Vegas/Tijuana/New Orleans/Caribbean/Asia/Europe for sex trips and they expect their culture/language/jingoism to be
accepted by everyone else? Why?
Yes, I had one when I lived in Japan (Score:2, Informative)
They are especially nice when you have the runs. You know, when you have to go to the heads all day, and by the end toilet paper might as well be sandpaper, for the effect it has on your sensitive tissues.
Japanese toilets also have (this is ALL toilets, not just the high-tech ones) two flush types: turn the handle one way for a small flush (#1), turn it the other way for a big flush (#2). Simple, environmentally friendly, and good for water bills. Why on earth don't we have them everywhere -- not to mention in the US, where I understand that flush volumes are limited by law. After all, if the average of all flushes is lower, that should be good enough, right?
Graham
here in Osaka (Score:5, Informative)
I would have to say that I would be particularly upset without my electric toilet seat.
No, I am not kidding.
Here is why:
The typical house in Japan is designed for summer and as such as neither 1) central heating nor 2) insulation in the walls. Hence, as you can imagine, that toilet is literally hovering at a temperature just above freezing (0 for most of the world 32 for you in the USA) so sitting on one that is not electrically heated is shocking, to say the least.
Now, on to my review:
First off, aside from its warmth features, the electric toilet seat has two particularly nice options which I would recommend to anyone with a hairy ass.
- One: On most of these toilets there is a nozzle that will spray warm water (although you can control the temperature) where the sun don't shine (and pasty things occasionally get mixed with hairs). The location of the nozzle is controlled via a knob (along with all of the other controls) on the right side of the toilet seat.
Oh, so yes, most (read 99.9999%) of these seats are for the right handed. As far as I know you would have to order a lefty as they are not available in stock here.
--Two: There is a blow dryer that kicks in automatically after that nozzle is done spraying. You can usually control the length of time for the drying bit.
There are of course higher end models that have fragrances, soaps, feminine hygene related options (frontal nozzles and such) which all cost more.
A recent visit to Kojima ( a national electrics chain) resulted in a basic price range of $250 to $900 US (of course I exchanged that from yen ).
There are some problems I could see with selling these in America, not the lest of which is that you would need to get a power outlet installed next to your toilet. This is not something I recall ever having seen in my 22 years in the US so, if you ask me this is the core problem beyond any other related to marketing.
This is rather like the problem that US makers of air conditioners had selling their products in Asia - which is quite funny actually.
Perhaps some of you are aware of this, but I will bring it up just as a final aside and a testament to the inability of companies to make internationally feasible products:
In Japan, at least, air conditioners are bolted to the wall, high, up close to the ceiling. As such no one can operate them without a remote control. As you can imagine the US based makers did not research the use of the product ("of course, they use the same machines the same way we do") so all of the controls were on the AC itself.
It still cracks me up to think about it: forcing people to climb on chairs to adjust the temperature - that might just bite in to your market share a bit don't you think? Duh.
Forgetting to resolve problems of fundamental things like usage in the actual users environment will never get you anything other than a thinner wallet.
If I were a worker at Toto I would re-evaluate the usage of the toilet seat in my target market first.
But, oh well, I am not a marketer.
back to work--
Jeff (by the way, Grummet used to mean, where I grew up, 5 pounds of shit in a 1 pound bag. odd that it applies here some how)
P.S. You may be wondering about those air conditioners, which happen to be off the topic a little, but here is one last anecdote, they are also used as heaters in winter but only do a wonderful job of heating the upper half (up to just below the ceiling ) part of the room so it is usually freezing in the part of the room where everyone spends most of their time: the floor.
Pretty smart, huh?
Toilet Review (Score:5, Informative)
The first impression you get of the shining white porcelain gadget is the motion sensor activated seat. (Obiviously designed with all those people who are too crippled to lift the seat cover on their own but still miraculously find their way into the bathroom) Swing open the door and you will be greeted by a soothing mechanical whirr as the seat cover goes up. After wiping down the seat with provided disinfectant from the design coordinated dispenser (also a product of toto) You are greeted by a fairly quick change in tempurature from icy cold (Insulation in Japan sucks and central heat does not seem to be of interest in bathrooms here [read: DAMN COLD]) to a pleasant or shall we say encouraging warm tempurature. Not a bad touch. Very good contour to cradle you poor senstive ass after being abused by an office chair everyday. I don't think I need to mention that actual process of 'making a deposit in the bank' as it would seem rather independant of the technology.
And now on to the real fun. I had always assumed that all sorts of water jets and blowers and stuff were for some kind of euro-hippy freak but one terribly hung-over morning at the office I decided to take the challege and 'test' the water jet. I was very impressed by the nice features incorporated into the jet alone. The water tempurature angle and water pressure are all independantly adjustable to suit all body sizes and 'consistancies' (for lack of a better word). I felt rather clean, refreshed and not unpleasant at all, after all it saved me the trouble of wiping!
Being a curious, I have experimented with the jet mechanism at a later date and discovered that at maximum pressure activting the jet while not being seated results in an entertaining water jet that easily crosses to the far side of the stall with little loss of angle or tradjectory. Then by adjusting the angle mechanism I realized that the jet could easily reach tie or even face levels of the average male and realized the potential for an excellent prank hack. (It would really be a shame if someone rigged a trigger to the stall door, wouldn't it...).
Following the encounter with the water jet anyone would realize the need for a drying mechanism as toilet paper does not respond well to moisture. As with the water jet the dryer/blower also has adjustments for angle tempurate and air pressure making for a quick and pleasant drying experience. After multiple test runs timing revealed that the dryer could generally complete its task in 25-35sec with no discomfort. (When placed under time constraints the dryer could produce sufficient lack of moisture in a record time of roughly 12.6 seconds but would not be classified as in the 'comfort zone'.)
Due to being of the male variety and forseeable sloppiness, I could not test but give due note to a full set of water jets and dryers located in the front of the toilet to satisfy the needs of our geek friends who do not a twig and berries nor wedding tackle. The frontal jets were also adjustable for tempurature, angle and pressure leading me to the assumption that they would provide appropriate customization to satify most body shapes and preferences. (Unfortunately no ladies were willing to comment on the functionality of the frontal jets)
From an overall view-point I was very pleased with the performance of this toto model (sorry no model number available at this time) however in the office environment one problem was noticable. Often a venture to the 'techo-head', as I affectionately refer to it, revealed that the settings were often adjusted to preferences other than my own and would require some fine tuning before use to provide the optimal bathroom experience. I realized that it lacked the ability to create presets for individual 'users'. This model lacks the ability to present controls and the small number of analog controls would allow one to assume that presets would not be feasible with out a major redesign of the interface and circuitry. In the event that presets did become a option it would be very convenient to register these settings in a directory server. All in all I would give it 4 out of 5 Johns because of the lack of a presets and still some room in the concept to mature but all together a very pleasant dump.
As I cannot afford to be slashdotted, pictures of the jet mechanisms and control panels as well as model numbers and information will be available by email. Send mail to SCE(at)SUBDIMENSION(dot)COM with 'techno-head' in the subject line and I will send you the photos etc.
Americans don't need high-tech toilets (Score:3, Informative)
What I do want is toilets that flush completely in only 1.6 gallons of water per flush. This was a major problem with the early water-saving toilets, since often you had to flush twice to flush the toilet bowl cleanly. I believe it was Kohler that first corrected this problem with very careful design of the way water circulates in the toiler bowl during the flush cycle. I know that some toilet makers resorted in using pressurized water tanks (I kid you not!), but I'm not sure if the potential for mechanical trouble is worth it.
Re:Yes, I had one when I lived in Japan (Score:1, Informative)
I've been to a lot of places in Europe, this seems to be be the norm in most houses. The older ones, they seemed older to me anyway, had a pull handle on the top. You pulled it one click for a little flush or two for a big flush. Then there were the ones you rotated one way for a big flush and another for a little flush, then there were the up=little/down=big handles, never saw two that were the same. In Stockholm, the ones in the mall had two buttons (cost money too, 5 kr. i think). It's always an adventure figuring out how they worked. Glad I've never had to deal with these Japanese models.
Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Bathroom (Score:1, Informative)
Worried by the poor sanitation, inefficiency, and high cost of bathrooms, Bucky came up with a solution in 1936.
The four, stamped sheet metal or molded plastic sections are each light enough to be carried by two workers. They'll fit up tight staircases and through narrow doors, allowing retrofitting in existing structures. All the appliances, pipes, and wires are built-in, limiting on-site construction to mere hook-up.
With the sections bolted together, the interior has no germ-harboring nooks, crannies, grout cracks or anything that can rot. Large-radius corners make germicidal swabbing easy and complete. Downdraft ventilation draws fumes and steam to the undersink vent. Both sink and (deep) bath-shower are arranged to ease the care of children and seniors. The mirror doesn't steam up, the sink doesn't splatter, and the toilet paper stays dry.
Dymaxion Bathrooms are to be equipped with "Fog Gun" hot water vapor showers that use only a cup of water to clean hygienically without soap. Remarking that "Nature had designed humans to separate urine and excrement. Both are valuable chemistry, and should be collected for further use," Bucky specified a waterless "Packaging Toilet" that deftly shrink-wrapped the stuff for pickup for later composting. (Ordinary toilets use approximately 2000 gallons of pure drinking water per year to flush - and waste - one human's "exhaust" that, if dried out, would scarcely fill two 5-gallon pails.)
From a lot of experience, let me tell you (Score:2, Informative)
I live in Japan, but I don't own one because I just can't quite justify the cost. Luckily I spent that week in my girlfriends house.
Re:Lasers? (Score:3, Informative)
I haven't taken biology in a couple of years. If you want a more detailed answer, look it up :)
Re:Three Sea Shells (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Three Sea Shells (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Lasers? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Toilet Review (Score:1, Informative)
2) Use one of these seats
3) Smack yourself in the forehead for not getting one for yourself sooner
It's hard to explain beyond the words: warmer, cleaner, relaxing.
You really have to try it yourself to fully understand, I imagine. But have you read a response from someone who's used one and *not* liked it? Not here, at least.
Re:Isn't it ironic... (Score:2, Informative)
It would be ironic, except for the fact that the blink tag was never in the HTML recommendation to begin with [wlv.ac.uk].
I find this bit interesting: "Only NN honours this tag. Users of other browsers can cause severe irritation to Netscape users by enclosing the whole page in <blink>