Today’s modern technology, when applied to products effectively, can enhance user-experience, showcase better design and provide quality service to all.
At the CES last January 2019, TOTO USA, INC. unveiled their updated high-tech bathtub and toilet lines named “Life Anew NEXT” which aims to enhance the bath and toilet experience. Highlights of this new collection include the world’s first zero-gravity bathtub—the Flotation Tub with ZERO DIMENSION technology—and NEOREST NX2 Intelligent Toilet with ACTILIGHT, equipped with high-performance TORNADO flushing technology and hands-free flushing features.
The Flotation Tub with ZERO DIMENSION technology comes in freestanding and drop-in models for the North American market. This latest bathtub line simulates zero gravity and offers a different bathing experience for users who will feel weightless and free from mechanical energy or load on their joints. Bathers are calmly afloat as special massage jets produce a therapeutic flow of warm bubbles that envelope the whole body.
The NEOREST NX2 Intelligent Toilet with ACTILIGHT has a bacteria-neutralizing ultraviolet light and a titanium dioxide-fired toilet bowl. It features an extraordinary technology that initiates a photocatalytic process that breaks down even microscopic waste particles that is safe for the environment, leading to a more hygienic and better experience for users.
TOTO has also collaborated with GP PRO, a division of Georgia-Pacific, to ensure the quality of TOTO’s higher-end products and equally enhance the user experience of the public in class-A office buildings, major airports, sports venues and other higher traffic venues. The collaboration is looking to create “a one-stop shop restroom story for guests to enhance the user experience,” according to Bhavik P. Patel, Director of Business Strategy at TOTO USA, INC. The collaboration is enabled by the KOLO™ Smart Monitoring System, GP PRO’s new open architecture communication platform that provides reliable, customizable and secure monitoring and analysis of connected away-from-home restroom fixtures.
“[Owners of high-traffic public venues] are beginning to understand that a premium restroom experience can translate into greater user experience and so lead to higher consumer spending,” Bhavik P. Patel, Director of Business Strategy at TOTO USA, INC., told ArchiExpo e-Magazine during the CES tech event in Las Vegas in January 2019.
The KOLO™ Smart Monitoring System has different screens per level of operation: facility managers can get an overall analysis of the goings-on and the janitorial staff receives alerts to know what needs to be done which saves time. There’s a reports tab which shows alert history, traffic flow and water consumption. Facility managers can keep track of maintenance per toilet and stall depending on the frequency of use. The system has been in use for testing over the last year at the Atlanta Airport.
“It enables us to save time. The staff has a lot of tasks to handle. Instead of spending time performing unnecessary tasks, such as refilling toilet paper per stall despite the full roll left in certain stalls, members of the staff only perform tasks mentioned via the alert system—say only stall one and five need a refill on toilet paper. Money is saved by no longer wasting full rolls, as just one example; members of the staff use their time on only necessary tasks, which also raises morale as they can become more helpful to customers,” Eric S. Abercrombie, Senior Manager of Communications and Public Affairs at Georgia-Pacific told ArchiExpo e-Magazine during the CES tech event in Las Vegas in January 2019.
