By Chuck Woodbury
We all know the pain, don’t we? We’re on the road, and maybe a half-hour earlier we stopped at Starbucks (or Denny’s), and now we’ve got to relieve ourselves so bad we’re about to pop. Talk about panic (not to mention pain)! But there’s encouraging news out of Japan that may offer relief.
Japanese toilet giant TOTO has launched a service that allows those caught on the road or anywhere else away from a privy to easily locate the nearest public restrooms to see how busy they are in real-time. All a person with a filled-to-the-brim bladder needs is a smartphone and an app with the special QR code.
Japan, for the record, has a problem managing long lines outside public toilets, particularly for women.
And guess what those creative folks from across the Pacific pond are also working on for their citizens’ future bladder comfort? They’re figuring out how to design restrooms with movable walls so when the women’s line gets too long, the wall between it and the men’s room can move, providing the ladies additional toilets that the speedy guys don’t need.
The launch
TOTO launched the QR code app system this month. The company is well known in the USA where its toilets are sold at Lowe’s and The Home Depot. It also makes musical toilets which are found, among other places, at the Louvre Museum in Paris and in Boeing 777 business class restrooms.
With the new app, users can scan the QR code to access information about locations with their live congestion levels. “In addition, a QR code inside a restroom stall brings you to a website where a user can report problems, like being unable to flush or something broken,” TOTO spokesman Tasuku Miyazaki said Thursday.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Do you think that maybe by the time a desperate motorist pulls out his phone, finds the QR code and then plugs in the address that he/she may already have a issue with wet pants?
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RVT1224
The company I worked for gave out “Brief Relief”. A gray plastic bag that you peed in. The pee then changes to a gel and you just throw it away.- Much better than finding a bathroom.
“Piddle Packs”…three rectangular sponges in a thick plastic zip lock type bag, the bag was actually called a MAF bag (Maintenance Action Form) meant for aircraft maintenance documents. Navy pilots used this method if the aircraft wasn’t designed with a relief tube…
We had the same piddle packs in Air Force fighters.
I can’t tell people how many times I’ve watered the roadside foliage but I can say I may help to solve worldwide deforestation due to drought.
Hmm…and for the ladies?
My Sister found a way to use it.
Check out the aviation supply company’s – like Sporty’s. Different designs for male and female for use in small aircraft without facilities! (By the way Coke bottles are really hard for either of us to use! Ask me how I know!
Our RV, and this is publication is about RVs, has a toilet just a few feet behind the driver’s seat. Can’t tell you how many times we’ve used it in the nearest parking lot or even on the shoulder. At my age, early warnings keep getting shorter all the time.
Yeah, when the bladder is at its maximum capacity, it’s way too late to look for a restroom!
If you think driving an Rv or car and the urge hits is a problem – try it in a small airplane with no facilities! No road side weeds to water – can’t pull up to a cloud, the nearest airport is 100 miles away…. Best not drink coffee, tea or beer for a couple days before the trip!
A couple of days? That’s ridiculous.
Thank you, Chuck! Interesting. Although the most interesting aspect of the article was the possibility of having a moving divider wall between the men’s and women’s side of a rest room area to alleviate congestion on the women’s side. Have a great weekend and safe travels!
Don’t need it. I pull my toilet with me almost everywhere I go.
This is not a new app, they have been out there for a while. These apps do the same thing Flush, Bathroom Scout, and Sit or Squat. (Too bad Toto can’t concentrate on making a better toilet.) I used to use them and realized it easier to find a McDonalds restaurant.
Now that’s thinking outside of the box.