Tag: toilets

  • Smart toilets in China test people’s urine to know how healthy they are

    Smart toilets in China test people’s urine to know how healthy they are

    Futuristic urinals have been introduced in major Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, offering automated health monitoring through urine analysis.

    These smart toilets, as reported by the New York Post, can quickly and accurately test urine on-site for approximately $2.76 (₹230), providing a convenient way for people to manage their health while using public restrooms.

    Shanghai-based documentary filmmaker Christian Petersen-Clausen shared a picture of one of these urinals and described his experience in a series of tweets.

    He wrote, ”Recently Health Checking Urinals have begun popping up in Men’s restrooms all over Shanghai. A private company is offering the urine analysis for RMB 20. Naturally, I tried that out.”

    ‘The whole process is about as easy as one might think. I paid my fee via WeChat and before I even made it down the escalator had my results,” he further wrote as he shared pictures of a man using the toilet and getting his results.

    His results, which said he lacked calcium, were “otherwise unremarkable”, he said.

    A few days later, he encountered another one of these urinals and conducted another test. “Seems like I’ve been consuming enough milk by now,” he wrote, indicating that the tests were quite thorough. He informed users that his calcium levels had improved.

    ”The company seems to be installing them all over China and given how important early detection of health issues is I think this is quite good. I don’t think this shall replace a visit to your doctor but it might very well prompt one. A cardiologist told me that thanks to Apple Watches he now saw more people before they had heart attacks. That’s kind of what I am hoping for here,” he added. 

  • Tokyo’s public toilets serve as tourist sites

    Tokyo’s public toilets serve as tourist sites

    In addition to visiting temples and viewing cherry blossoms, tourists in Tokyo can now explore a curated tour of the city’s modern wonders: its public toilets.

    Penelope Panczuk, inspired by the Oscar-nominated film “Perfect Days,” which portrays a toilet cleaner in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, decided to join the Tokyo Toilet Shuttle. This two-hour tour showcases artistically enhanced public conveniences across the city.

    “In the U.S. or in France where I originally come from, you just don’t go,” Panczuk said of using public facilities.

    “Here in Tokyo you’re really happy to go because they’re extremely clean, they’re very safe and each one is so different it feels like it’s a new discovery each time,” she added.

    The Tokyo Toilet Shuttle, launched in March, has attracted visitors to Japan at a record pace. The slide in the yen’s value has made it more affordable for many superfans of Japanese culture to explore its sights and quirks for the first time.

    In recent years, Japan’s toilets, manufactured by companies like TOTO and LIXIL, have become highly revered technological exports.

    These toilets boast features such as cleansing sprays, heated seats, music, and more.

    They have gained international attention, with the animated comedy “South Park” dedicating an entire episode to them, and DJ Khaled expressing excitement on Instagram about receiving four TOTO bowls as a gift from rapper Drake.

    The Tokyo Toilet Project, initiated in 2020 by The Nippon Foundation non-profit, enlisted creators including Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando to enhance accessibility and artistry in 17 public toilets in the Shibuya district.

    While the project was not initially intended as a tourist attraction, the Shibuya government seized the opportunity to enhance the area’s appeal to visitors, diverting attention from its famously chaotic Scramble crossing.

  • GES suspends GHANASCO headmaster over ‘toilet’ dormitories

    GES suspends GHANASCO headmaster over ‘toilet’ dormitories

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has interdicted the headmaster of Ghana Senior High School (GHANASCO) in Tamale over the use of toilet cubicles as dormitories for students.

    The Senior Housemaster has also been suspended to allow the Regional Director of Education to investigate the matter.

    In a statement, the GES instructed the Director to provide his or her findings to the Service in two weeks’ time.

    Earlier this week, videos showing how nondisinfected washrooms had been converted into dormitories surfaced on social media.

    Students captured on camera bemoaned the current state of their health as they are left with no other alternative than to resort to open defecation since they have occupied the washrooms.

    “… we just sit at the back here to eat and the flies (from where we ease ourselves) will be disturbing us. Sometimes when the run is too much it blows the breeze here and the scent is unbearable.

    “As am standing here, I was sick just last Friday … I was diagnosed with typhoid and malaria,” a student orated his ordeal.

    It is reported that this was done to address accommodation challenges facing the school.

    But the Ghana Education Service has debunked such claims, revealing that its records show that out of the 1790 vacancies declared by the school, “only 1467 students have enrolled.”

    This implies that the management of the school has excess capacity to house additional 300 students.

    The GES has therefore described the current circumstance as “unacceptable, disturbing and unfortunate.”

    The Service has therefore assured to get to the bottom of the matter and ensure that students entrusted in its care operate in a safe environment.

    Source: The Independent Ghana