One of the most enduring images from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic was toilet paper shortage. For reasons no one can quite understand, many people panic bought the bathroom product, leading to shortages worldwide.
The unexpected, and some might say positive, outcome was that a lot of people began using more environmentally-friendly options. Noted bathroom products manufacturer, TOTO, took to the CES 2021 virtual floor to expand on this renewed interest in personal hygiene.
TOTO WELLNESS TOILET
As a part of TOTO's New Normal Way of Life campaign, the company released some details of its upcoming WELLNESS TOILET. Although it's not going to be commercially available for a few years, there are some notable and exciting features. The central premise is that you should access your overall health and wellbeing when taking a bathroom break.
Once you've sat on the seat, the WELLNESS TOILET scans your body using a range of built-in sensors and provides recommendations to improve your wellbeing. As the company notes, there are many wearables available to us, but almost none have access to our waste. It's also possible that TOTO will offer integrations with other services to get a complete picture of your health.
The tracked data is recorded in the companion smartphone app, alongside a dashboard for quick information and guidance. Although it's not clear in what capacity this would be utilized, there's also mention of artificial intelligence.
TOTO WASHLET C2
The company has an extensive range of tech-inspired bidets. In the past, you would have needed a separate bidet unit alongside your regular toilet. However, TOTO's WASHLET range integrates a bidet and other useful features into an after-market toilet seat. The recently-launched WASHLET C2 is the latest entry-level bidet seat in the range.
The unit can be fitted to most toilets, so long as there is a power connection nearby and access to the water supply. The temperature-controlled seat comes with a remote control, air deodorizer, and adjustable water temperature. A water-based PREMIST is sprayed into the bowl before use.
Similarly, once you've finished your business, EWATER+ automatically cleans the bidet wand after use. To save you feeling damp for the remainder of the day, the WASHLET C2 includes a built-in air drier with three temperature settings.
The Bathroom of the Future
Although a far cry from the novelty of Alexa-enabled toilets usually on display at CES, TOTO's offerings represent a more refined, and importantly clean, vision of personal hygiene over the coming years. The WASHLET bidet seats are available now from TOTO's website for those looking to make an immediate change.
That said, you'll need to wait a few more years until the WELLNESS TOILET becomes a reality. Still, with access to some of your most intimate health indicators, it might be worth holding out for.