5 ms·

I think the toilet in general could use an upgrade... for how many years have they been built exactly the same way? Has anyone ever done a study of the flow as

by taf2 9y ago

I think the toilet in general could use an upgrade... for how many years have they been built exactly the same way? Has anyone ever done a study of the flow as urine impacts the toilet and bounces back? Or as we learn more about the importance of stomach bacteria, can our toilet start to do more monitoring of the bacteria in our stomach? Love your idea of hydration monitoring and think the application is probably more far reaching than just Alzheimer’s

bflesch 9y ago
Yes, I think it makes more sense to monitor and gather data on what comes out of your body instead of monitoring what goes into it(e.g. all smartwatches/diets). I'd like to one day have a room-sized analysis unit which screens feces/urine of all attached toilets and performs various tests on it. Analysis results could be assigned to individuals based on the DNA footprint. It could immediately tell you that your sugar intake is too high or that you should drink more water. With this kind of immediate feedback people will be able to live healthier because they can correlate food <-> result on their body. Also we could do so many interesting studies..
- StudentStuff 9y ago
  It'd be great to be able to pull glucose, hydration and more out of urine samples real time, so long as we stay away from say live telemetry to insurers or something like SmartPipe[1] it'd be enormously beneficial. 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJklHwoYgBQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJklHwoYgBQ
  - bflesch 9y ago
    In health this would be massively beneficial. Imagine a digital hospital where you monitor excrements for every patient during their stay. When my father was in the stroke unit recently they had him drink a shitload of water and they monitored water intake by making him write down how much he drank and when. Stupid thing is I need a 100M exit first to sponsor this kind of thing.
    - zafka 9y ago
      I do not think you need an exit to sponsor this. How about starting a web site that outlines all your ideas? Start building interest in the idea. Invite discussion.....
    - jonwachob91 9y ago
      I'm obviously not familiar with your dad's specifics, BUT hospitals will sometimes require tracking of fluid intake to help track kidney function post stroke. It's not the most common thing, so a physician would have needed supporting evidence to indicate the potential of kidney failure. Just something to keep in mind :)
  - koolba 9y ago
    > ... so long as we stay away from say live telemetry to insurers ... Consumers have demonstrated that they're willing to save $5-20 a month in exchange for sending gym checkins[1], daily steps counts, or digital monitoring of their driving habits[2] uploaded to their insurers. I don't think it'll ever be mandatory but I can see a day where the "discount" for agreeing to continuous monitoring and data upload is so great that it'd be cost prohibitive for the average consumer to not be a part of it. On the personal health front I think the biggest stopper is the cost of the data collection devices. That's what's relegated it to higher end targets like diabetic monitors (for now). [1]: https://www.bluecrossmn.com/healthy/public/personal/home/livehealthy/lh-health-programs-discounts/lh-fitness-discounts-public https://www.bluecrossmn.com/healthy/public/personal/home/liv... [2]: https://www.progressive.com/auto/discounts/snapshot/#2 https://www.progressive.com/auto/discounts/snapshot/#2
    - beamer1979 9y ago
      "I don't think it'll ever be mandatory but I can see a day where the "discount" for agreeing to continuous monitoring and data upload is so great that it'd be cost prohibitive for the average consumer to not be a part of it." I would be looking to my government to ensure such unwanted and unwelcomed intrusions into an individual's private life by private companies aren't required to achieve that. Whether that be through the nationalisation of such services or some other method. Anything else is an affront to the implied social contract which allows such private companies to profit from their activities in society.
      - goialoq 9y ago
        You could choose not to buy health insurance. Why should an insure be forced to subsidize your lifestyle choices?
pyreton 9y ago
Here's an article on "Smart Toilets": https://singularityhub.com/2009/05/12/smart-toilets-doctors-in-your-bathroom/ https://singularityhub.com/2009/05/12/smart-toilets-doctors-...
Tharkun 9y ago
The toilet and the stomach bacteria rarely encounter one another, unless you throw up on a regular basis. You're probably referring to gut bacteria, which live in your colon. It's true that a lot of research is being done towards these bacteria, and they appear to play an important role in various systems. However, stools are usually coated in a thin layer of mucus -- which makes them a bit shiny and serves as a lubricant. It's unlikely that enough stool interacts with the toilet bowl to get much interesting data out of it. And even if it did, it would probably be contaminated by the presence of other people's stool.
- pbhjpbhj 9y ago
  If you wanted to get data though it would be easy to macerate the stool to collect samples surely.
  - Tharkun 9y ago
    Sure, but how do you prevent things like TP -- or the previous user -- from contaminating the sample?
creep 9y ago
When I was in the hospital for an eating disorder a plastic container was fitted on the toilet with measurements, and my fluid "prescription" would be adjusted. The nurses would also use this to monitor whether or not I was actually drinking the water they gave me, and there was a nurse present in the room, with the door open. This process felt extremely invasive. I would have killed for a toilet like what you describe, and I feel as though my physical/medical treatment would have been more successful. (Somewhat tangentially, the food given at hospitals doesn't make sense for someone who has been nutritionally deficient for years).
noir_lord 9y ago
I saw a urinal in the new shopping centre that was an inspired piece of design, it had a curved blade in the centre pointing outwards, no matter which direction you hit it from it couldn't splash back (I tried). Such a simple solution.

by taf2 9y ago

bflesch 9y ago

Yes, I think it makes more sense to monitor and gather data on what comes out of your body instead of monitoring what goes into it(e.g. all smartwatches/diets). I'd like to one day have a room-sized analysis unit which screens feces/urine of all attached toilets and performs various tests on it. Analysis results could be assigned to individuals based on the DNA footprint. It could immediately tell you that your sugar intake is too high or that you should drink more water. With this kind of immediate feedback people will be able to live healthier because they can correlate food <-> result on their body. Also we could do so many interesting studies..

StudentStuff 9y ago
It'd be great to be able to pull glucose, hydration and more out of urine samples real time, so long as we stay away from say live telemetry to insurers or something like SmartPipe[1] it'd be enormously beneficial. 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJklHwoYgBQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJklHwoYgBQ
- bflesch 9y ago
  In health this would be massively beneficial. Imagine a digital hospital where you monitor excrements for every patient during their stay. When my father was in the stroke unit recently they had him drink a shitload of water and they monitored water intake by making him write down how much he drank and when. Stupid thing is I need a 100M exit first to sponsor this kind of thing.
  - zafka 9y ago
    I do not think you need an exit to sponsor this. How about starting a web site that outlines all your ideas? Start building interest in the idea. Invite discussion.....
  - jonwachob91 9y ago
    I'm obviously not familiar with your dad's specifics, BUT hospitals will sometimes require tracking of fluid intake to help track kidney function post stroke. It's not the most common thing, so a physician would have needed supporting evidence to indicate the potential of kidney failure. Just something to keep in mind :)
- koolba 9y ago
  > ... so long as we stay away from say live telemetry to insurers ... Consumers have demonstrated that they're willing to save $5-20 a month in exchange for sending gym checkins[1], daily steps counts, or digital monitoring of their driving habits[2] uploaded to their insurers. I don't think it'll ever be mandatory but I can see a day where the "discount" for agreeing to continuous monitoring and data upload is so great that it'd be cost prohibitive for the average consumer to not be a part of it. On the personal health front I think the biggest stopper is the cost of the data collection devices. That's what's relegated it to higher end targets like diabetic monitors (for now). [1]: https://www.bluecrossmn.com/healthy/public/personal/home/livehealthy/lh-health-programs-discounts/lh-fitness-discounts-public https://www.bluecrossmn.com/healthy/public/personal/home/liv... [2]: https://www.progressive.com/auto/discounts/snapshot/#2 https://www.progressive.com/auto/discounts/snapshot/#2
  - beamer1979 9y ago
    "I don't think it'll ever be mandatory but I can see a day where the "discount" for agreeing to continuous monitoring and data upload is so great that it'd be cost prohibitive for the average consumer to not be a part of it." I would be looking to my government to ensure such unwanted and unwelcomed intrusions into an individual's private life by private companies aren't required to achieve that. Whether that be through the nationalisation of such services or some other method. Anything else is an affront to the implied social contract which allows such private companies to profit from their activities in society.
    - goialoq 9y ago
      You could choose not to buy health insurance. Why should an insure be forced to subsidize your lifestyle choices?

pyreton 9y ago

Here's an article on "Smart Toilets": https://singularityhub.com/2009/05/12/smart-toilets-doctors-in-your-bathroom/ https://singularityhub.com/2009/05/12/smart-toilets-doctors-...

Tharkun 9y ago

The toilet and the stomach bacteria rarely encounter one another, unless you throw up on a regular basis. You're probably referring to gut bacteria, which live in your colon. It's true that a lot of research is being done towards these bacteria, and they appear to play an important role in various systems. However, stools are usually coated in a thin layer of mucus -- which makes them a bit shiny and serves as a lubricant. It's unlikely that enough stool interacts with the toilet bowl to get much interesting data out of it. And even if it did, it would probably be contaminated by the presence of other people's stool.

pbhjpbhj 9y ago
If you wanted to get data though it would be easy to macerate the stool to collect samples surely.
- Tharkun 9y ago
  Sure, but how do you prevent things like TP -- or the previous user -- from contaminating the sample?

creep 9y ago

When I was in the hospital for an eating disorder a plastic container was fitted on the toilet with measurements, and my fluid "prescription" would be adjusted. The nurses would also use this to monitor whether or not I was actually drinking the water they gave me, and there was a nurse present in the room, with the door open. This process felt extremely invasive. I would have killed for a toilet like what you describe, and I feel as though my physical/medical treatment would have been more successful. (Somewhat tangentially, the food given at hospitals doesn't make sense for someone who has been nutritionally deficient for years).

noir_lord 9y ago

I saw a urinal in the new shopping centre that was an inspired piece of design, it had a curved blade in the centre pointing outwards, no matter which direction you hit it from it couldn't splash back (I tried). Such a simple solution.