‘Toilet Finder’ app a relief for Japanese

File photo.

We’ve all been there—when nature suddenly calls but for some reason we can’t locate the nearest public bathroom.

Japanese company KDDI Corporation has found a solution—an app showing the nearest vacant toilet cubicle.

According to Japan Times, the struggle to find a public toilet in the country was real and had affected the work productivity of Japanese workers who spent much time waiting for a lavatory to become available.

“People waste time by looking around for an available toilet on various floors, or by waiting until one becomes available,” company spokesperson Daisuki Mauro said in the report.  “We believe this solution will help solve the problem by streamlining how bathrooms are used.”

Dubbed as “smart loos,” the toilet application uses Global Positioning System (GPS) to show users the nearest unoccupied bathroom.

Using state-of-the-art sensors on cubicle doors, app users will receive real-time updates on how many cubicles are available in an office block.

The company also offers a specialized loo, which costs as much as $12,400 (P622,914) and is equipped with  UV cleaning, warm-air blowers, a spray hose and Bluetooth control.

The toilet-app mash-up is currently being used in a few offices in Japan, but Mauro is hoping that it will soon be rolled out in public places such as railway stations, shopping malls and sporting venues.

Some Japanese workers, meanwhile, are questioning the app’s somehow invasive features, but Mauro has its users that it’s highly unlikely that hackers would want to “take control of your nozzle.”  Khristian Ibarrola / RA