When you gotta go, you gotta go, and this smartphone service will tell you where to go.

At the start of August, Toto, Japan’s largest toilet manufacturer, introduced its new Toto Connect Public service. The program, which is primarily pitched at operators of facilities such as shopping centers and train stations, using the online connectivity of Toto bathroom fixtures to provide building maintenance managers with real-time information regarding the operating status of the installed equipment, alerts for things like low levels in soap dispensers, and allows for easy universal settings of things such as the water temperature of toilet bidet functions throughout the building.

However, there’s some important, occasionally critical, information that Toto Connect Public can provide for us public restroom users too. The system can also measure and display how crowded a facility’s various bathrooms are, helping you find one with an empty stall. You can check for specific needs such as wheelchair access or an in-stall baby chair where the child can sit as mom or dad takes care of their business, and can even bring up a map of the facility to help you navigate to the closest, non-crowded restroom that fits your criteria.

▼ Results showing restrooms that are uncrowded (blue), moderately crowded (orange), or very crowded (red), along with icons for things such as diaper changing tables. Though Toto’s promotional image shows Japanese text, users can switch their setting to English, Chinese, or Korean instead, allowing people from many different countries to resolve a problem that crosses cultural borders.

While the full array of Toto Connect Public management and maintenance functions will require a login by the building managers, the service is programmed such that the restroom crowdedness/map navigation can be easily accessed by shoppers, guests, and travelers by using their phone to scan a specialized QR code, which could be posted at the building entrance or directories.

As for how Toto measures bathroom crowdedness, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to fear that it’s using cameras to peek into the stalls and see if anyone’s in there. Since Toto Connect Public can also send an alert to building managers when a toilet has been occupied for such an inordinately long time that the user may have suffered an incapacitating medical issue, it most likely measures restroom crowdedness through weight sensors that can detect whether or not a toilet is being sat on.

Between the sprawling layout of Japan’s major train stations and the towering, multi-floor arrangement of many of its shopping centers, wandering from one restroom to another in search of an empty stall can sometimes take time that you really can’t spare, so the next time nature is insistently calling, you’ll want to see if Toto’s new service can help you.

Source: PR Times, 47 News
Images: PR Times
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