There are dozens of specific smart home gadgets for the kitchen and bedroom, as well as hundreds for the living room, but smart devices for the bathroom are noticeably lacking. Why? To most individuals, the answer is undoubtedly self-evident.
There are some areas of the house where you’d want to be alone. One of them is the bathroom. When you’re in there, the last thing you want is a chime followed by a delivery notice, or for one of your children to use the broadcast feature to talk to you. Still, smart technology in the bathroom has a lot of potentials, but it has to be the correct technology.
The bathroom is a personal area.
Let’s face it: we go to the restroom to do things we wouldn’t talk about in polite company. It’s an unavoidable element of being human, and we’re predisposed to seek seclusion in that environment. On a visceral level, the concept of putting a gadget with a camera or a microphone in the restroom is unnerving.
Consider what would happen if you went to a dinner party and went to the bathroom to freshen yourself, only to find a Nest Hub Max on the bathroom sink, its camera pointing at you as you washed your hands. It may be the first and last time you visited that house for supper.
A smart speaker could find a home in a bathroom for playing music while taking a lengthy bath, but the majority of smart home equipment doesn’t fit in a bathroom without giving us the creeps. So, what type of smart technology might make the bathroom a smarter place? It’s simple: smart health and safety technology.
More: Wyze unveils a $20 Smartwatch that monitors health controls smart home devices
Oh, the bidets, scales, and smart toilets!
The bathroom is the starting point for any health-related undertaking. It’s where we clean our teeth, keep our scales, and most people’s medicine cabinets are kept. Smart scales have already established themselves in our bathrooms, with models like the Wyze Scale S gaining a foothold thanks to the extensive health data they give.
Bathrooms may also benefit from smart lighting. They’re LED, so they’re less prone than old-school halogen or fluorescent bulbs to crack from moisture on a hot bulb. Hair straighteners and other equipment may be turned off using smart plugs, which is a nice feature.
So, what smart devices are left that are genuinely useful in the bathroom? Although there aren’t many, bidets and smart toilets should not be overlooked. They frequently cross paths.
Bidets are widely used in other parts of the world, but they have yet to catch on in the United States. When I suggest that a bidet may be quite the experience if you aren’t expecting it, I speak from firsthand experience (I apologize to all the people I frightened in that Tokyo bathroom.) So, why haven’t they noticed this?
“The biggest barrier with mass bidet adoption in the United States is probably the cultural stigma,” says Miki Agrawal, creator, and chief creative officer of Tushy. Bidets have been used in other civilizations for ages, but we’ve been indoctrinated to believe that toilet paper suffices. In actuality, it costs us money every month (billions of dollars each year), kills millions of trees, and causes chronic infections and ailments such as UTIs, hemorrhoid’s, and fissures down there.”
There’s also the misconception that bidets are difficult to install, which is untrue. Sure, water lines need to be fiddled with, but anyone who has installed a video doorbell or a smart lock can install a bidet.
A bidet is a step in the right direction if you want to cut down on toilet paper consumption and lower your carbon impact. So, what happens next? How about a toilet that analyses your Poop and informs you what’s wrong with your eating habits?
In early 2021, Toto suggested a prototype Wellness Toilet that would provide consumers health recommendations based on what they flushed down the toilet. It may, for example, identify a lack of fibers in your diet and recommend dietary changes. Feces, as disgusting as it is, contains a wealth of information about your body. It can be used by doctors to detect illness symptoms. It could be unnecessary to visit little rooms with plastic containers if your toilet gathered the information for you so you could simply show the app to your doctor.
We must accept our discomfort.
Another barrier to overcome is the fact that even contemplating the usage of technology in the restroom makes many people uncomfortable. If smart home technology is to take over every part of the house, including the bathroom, we must become accustomed to being uncomfortable.
Smart technology, particularly health-focused technology, has the potential to do a lot of good. Consider a smart toilet and a smart scale that communicated with one another. You might begin a muscle-building routine and monitor your body composition on the scale as well as your macronutrient intake on the toilet.
If smart home technology is to take over every part of the house, including the bathroom, we must become accustomed to being uncomfortable.
Smart bathroom technology can even help you save money on your water bill. Smart showers make it simple to get the ideal temperature every time, while smart water valves lower total flow without compromising sanitation.
A smart toothbrush can assist you in improving your dental health. Smart drug distributors can guarantee that elderly relatives receive the appropriate medication at the appropriate time. While getting ready, smart mirrors may show weather, news, and other information (although the same can be accomplished with a smart display in another room.)
About The Author
Hassan Zaka
I am an expert in accounting and possess diverse experience in technical writing. I have written for various industries on topics such as finance, business, and technology. My writing style is clear and simple, and I utilize infographics and diagrams to make my writing more engaging. I can be a valuable asset to any organization in need of technical writing services.
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