Technology trends in the toilet

TECHNOLOGY IS appearing everywhere - in our offices, our cars, our public spaces and our homes. And it is even cropping up in our toilets.

“Smileys” that ask the visitor how they would rate the washroom facilities; traffic light systems that indicate whether a cubicle is vacant or engaged; washroom dispensers that are connected to the internet – all have become recent techno toilet trends.

But technology in the washroom is hardly a new phenomenon. On the contrary, sensors were introduced nearly 40 years ago in the form of the world’s first touch-free taps.

Australian inventor Oliver Wareham patented them in 1984, claiming that sensor-activated taps would help to prevent bacteria transfer in hospitals and food preparation environments while also reducing the risk of flooding and water waste. And he was right.

But of course, technology did not stop there. Since that early breakthrough there has been any number of technological developments in the washroom, many of which have proved to be nowhere near as useful – nor as enduring - as the automatic tap. 

For example, in the early 2000s a number of venues installed “talking toilets” in a bid to engage visitors and attract more custom. At the De Balie cultural centre in Amsterdam, for example, the lavatories would make quips and offer helpful advice and instructions to users. Besides their obvious novelty value, these actually served a purpose in the days before the indoor smoking ban and when hand hygiene was frequently neglected pre-COVID. The De Balie centre would randomly remind guests to wash their hands after using the facilities and warned them to avoid smoking in the loo.

Technology trends 

Another odd techno trend that became fairly common around this time was the see-through washroom. Such facilities started cropping up in avant-garde bars and restaurants whose managers sought to shock and awe.

New York’s SoHo venue Bar 89 was one such example. The interior of the toilet cubicles would be clearly visible from the outside when they were empty. But once a guest had stepped in and locked the door, the walls would fog up and the facilities would become reassuringly private.

A Thai-Vietnamese restaurant – also in New York – adopted a similar model. Here the diners using the loo would be given a clear view of their fellow customers outside, who disconcertingly appeared to be staring in at them. But what these guests were actually seeing was a series of erotic art films that were being projected on to the other side of the one-way mirrored glass.

In the early part of the century another rather unsettling technological trend emerged. Holograms – which were increasingly being used in theme parks and other attractions - began to find their way into the washroom. For example, A Japanese-fusion restaurant in New York named Morimoto used hologram mirrors to immerse the washroom visitor into a seemingly infinite series of cherry blossom reflections. 

And in the ladies’ washrooms of the Katsuya sushi restaurant in Los Angeles, women would be startled at the sight of eerie hologram geisha faces appearing fleetingly in the mirror behind them as they washed their hands.

These types of toilet trends seem to have declined in popularity, perhaps because features such as talking toilets, see-through cubicles and hologram mirrors have the capacity to make some washroom users feel uncomfortable. Interestingly, however, see-through toilets returned in 2020 – but this time for a more practical reason.

Quirky ideas

During the first summer of the pandemic, see-through toilets were installed in public parks in Tokyo. These were again made from "smart glass" which turned opaque when the cubicle was locked and in use. But the aim here was not so much to provide a talking point as to allow COVID-wary people to assess the cleanliness of the facilities before venturing inside.

Mirror-based technology has also enjoyed something of a reprise fairly recently. In 2018, a “smart ladies room” was introduced into a shopping precinct in China. This used augmented reality-powered digital screens in the ladies’ toilets to allow women to virtually try on make-up. The screens act as intelligent mirrors that enable female visitors to see how a particular lipstick, blusher, eyeliner or eyeshadow would look on them.

Another technological trend to emerge in recent years is the urinal video game. Launched in 2011 by British company Captive Media, the games are played via an LCD screen which is installed above pressure-sensitive urinals. And they allow visitors to play virtual football, drive a car or operate a tank while using the loo.

These types of high-tech features have the function of making a visit to the washroom more fun for the customer. But in the age of the smartphone they also have a more practical role in helping to put the venues in question on the social media map.

The launch of the iPhone in 2007 made the idea of quirky toilet technology much more profitable for bars and restaurants. Growing numbers of people began taking their smartphones into the toilet with them from where they would take photos and upload noteworthy ones on to social media.

Meanwhile, Japanese toilet manufacturers were gaining increasing attention with their own high-tech toilets. Made by companies such as Kohler and Toto, these offer a range of smart features such as surround-sound speakers, heated seats, personalised cleansing and drying functions, ambient mood lighting, voice control and hands-free opening and closing of the lid.

Interactive washrooms

At the same time as these more bizarre technological innovations were grabbing the headlines, other companies were quietly coming up with more practical but less sensational uses of technology. And these had the simple aim of improving the experience for users while also making life easier for cleaners.

These included, for example, those traffic light systems that light up green when a cubicle is empty and red when it is engaged. The aim of this function is to speed up queues and prevent people from having to congregate in the aisle and try each door in turn. 

Many large washrooms began using “smiley” feedback panels allowing visitors to rate their washroom experience by pressing a red, amber or green button. Such systems provide valuable data for washroom managers while enabling them to respond immediately to any poor feedback. 

And 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 to physically check on dispenser status, saving time and freeing up resources. 

For example, Essity’s own Tork Vision Cleaning allows cleaners to monitor dispensers via a smartphone or tablet. Meanwhile, people-counters are employed to allow a facility to build up a profile of washroom visits. The office manager can then use this data to identify those toilets attracting the highest levels of traffic. The cleaner’s walking routes can be streamlined accordingly, again saving time and labour costs.

The impact of COVID

The global mood has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic and today’s toilet technology is a great deal more focused on health, hygiene and safety.

For example, four different companies came to this year’s CES technology exhibition in Las Vegas with ideas for toilet analysis tools. On display were devices capable of monitoring users’ urine for pregnancy, diabetes and kidney disease while also checking on hydration and nutrition levels. 

Meanwhile, scientists are examining new high-tech ways of detecting COVID-19 via the toilet. The COV-ID toilet unit carries out automated stool sampling and alerts the user to their test results within 15 minutes. Developed at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, the unit also sanitises itself automatically between users.

And earlier this year it emerged that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was planning to analyse the wastewater from aircraft toilets to check for incoming diseases. The CDC is seeking to test for new variants of COVID-19 and other hazards to Americans’ health which might be entering the country via international flights.

But let us not forgot those 40-year-old automatic taps and flush systems. In our post-lockdown world these types of fixtures allow visitors to avoid touching potentially-contaminated surfaces while also making the facilities more accessible for the less abled. And they aid the cleaner because automatic taps attract fewer fingermarks than their manual counterparts.

The use of technology in the toilet has been a journey. While it began quietly with relatively simple touch-free systems, it quickly morphed into the weird and wacky with disembodied voices, video games and holograms all being employed to sensational effect. But life has changed over the past five years and our minds have become more focused on keeping ourselves healthy.

Fads will come and go and the techno companies of tomorrow will no doubt experiment with more wild and wonderful uses of technology in the washroom. But the trends that endure will be the most practical ones - those that make washroom use and facility management more efficient, speedier, more hygienic and safer.

Stuart Hands is sales manager and sector lead at Tork manufacturer Essity.

www.tork.co.uk/visioncleaning