Researchers at Stanford University have developed a prototype for a smart toilet that collects health data and recognizes your butt. In 2020, cameras should now also watch the most private business.
Smart toilet with anus detection and disease analysis
Smart devices such as bathroom lamps, shower heads with music and toothbrushes are now coming smart toilets. Although the latter has been around for some time, this prototype goes one step further. The smart toilet records urine and faeces when the business is done and can analyze them medically and even biometrically identify the respective user.
The toilet has a fingerprint sensor on the flush to identify the person. In addition, a camera monitors the inside of the anus, because this also enables identification. Since there is always the possibility that someone else actuates the flush, the second variant was used for the test. Corresponding recordings are only used for recognition and are not intended for storage and forwarding to the doctors. The data collected can then be made available to doctors and healthcare facilities via secure cloud storage.
Detect diseases with a smart toilet
The smart toilet does not really achieve a breakthrough by recognizing the person, but rather the analysis of bowel movements and urine is relevant. The toilet is equipped with some sensors, which provide important information whether a person is struggling with an illness. In addition to a urine test strip, the toilet also has cameras for analyzing stool consistency.
This should make it possible to identify urinary bladder inflammation due to the white blood cells and the protein content in the blood. Analysis of the stool can also provide data on whether someone is struggling with constipation or infection.
According to Seung-min Park, a senior research scientist at Stanford University, users of the voice assistant Amazon Alexa are said to have “favorably” advocated smart toilets in the private sector. They found this out in a survey. However, it makes a difference whether you use music and lighting in a “smart toilet” or whether an analysis of the bowel movement is carried out here.
Of course, the toilet is not intended to replace a doctor or deeper tests, but could be particularly interesting for people who are genetically predisposed to certain diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, prostate cancer or kidney failure and want to keep their health under control.
Stanford Medicine News Center via the standard
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