Kohler Unveils a Camera For Your Toilet (techcrunch.com) 97
Kohler has launched the Dekoda, a $599 smart toilet camera that analyzes users' waste to track hydration, gut health, and detect potential issues like blood. "It also comes with a rechargeable battery, a USB connection, and a fingerprint sensor to identify who's using the toilet," reports TechCrunch. From the report: The Dekoda is currently available for preorder, with shipments scheduled to begin on October 21. In addition to the hardware purchase fee, customers will need to pay between $70 and $156 per year for a subscription. If you're uneasy about the privacy implications of putting a camera right below your private parts, the company says, "Dekoda's sensors see down into your toilet and nowhere else." It also notes that the resulting data is secured via end-to-end encryption.
No. (Score:1)
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This idea has been around for many years. How many remember the "anus fingerprint" that the group at Stanford suggested for their pee and pooh analyzing toilet back in 2020? Smart toilet can read your anus like a fingerprint [businessinsider.com]
Probably a big yea in Germany (Score:2)
It is common for Germans to send a picture of their "deposits" to their doctor. It is an accepted fact over there that it is a good proxy of your general health.
There is a new trend in the US for the same.
So this is probably not palatable for most of us, but there is a market for such a product.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry... [huffpost.com]
OK, that's it, the End Times are Upon Us. (Score:4, Interesting)
This is Peak Stupidity. Paying for the privilege of having your poop photographed and analyzed in your toilet.
I want my old timeline back. The one without social media, interconnected thermostats and such, and cameras to analyze your poop.
Re:OK, that's it, the End Times are Upon Us. (Score:5, Insightful)
"This is Peak Stupidity."
No, peak stupidity will be requiring it or your health insurance will go up 30%.
Incidentally, my old employer did exactly this. Required annual blood tests or your rates went up. They used the data to promote the "health" of their work force, not for your benefit. What a piece of shit company they were. National Instruments for those interested.
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"This is Peak Stupidity."
No, peak stupidity will be requiring it or your health insurance will go up 30%.
Incidentally, my old employer did exactly this. Required annual blood tests or your rates went up. They used the data to promote the "health" of their work force, not for your benefit. What a piece of shit company they were. National Instruments for those interested.
Peak stupidity is allowing, let alone supporting private companies to have control over your health care.
Requiring your shit to be analysed to see what they can charge you more for is so far over the peak you're in another country. I can see it happening though.
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"This is Peak Stupidity."
No, peak stupidity will be requiring it or your health insurance will go up 30%.
Incidentally, my old employer did exactly this. Required annual blood tests or your rates went up. They used the data to promote the "health" of their work force, not for your benefit. What a piece of shit company they were. National Instruments for those interested.
Peak stupidity is allowing, let alone supporting private companies to have control over your health care. Requiring your shit to be analysed to see what they can charge you more for is so far over the peak you're in another country. I can see it happening though.
My company's been doing this for a decade and a half. This is healthcare in America. Everything is for profit, including your health issues. It's one of the reasons I refuse to even participate in it. If I die, I die. So be it.
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Still....better than having the Federal bureaucracy in charge of it....
Ugh....can you imagine health centers ala DMV?
*shudder*
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It's an allegory, just an example of "A" govt entity that is almost universally known to be bad, inefficient and generally crummy.
The fed offices are not any better...last time I had to go into the Social Security office, I think for Real ID....what a fucking nightmare...took almost all day just to get an official copy of my SS card lost in Katrina.
There are a number of other agency examples....non
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Still....better than having the Federal bureaucracy in charge of it....
Ugh....can you imagine health centers ala DMV?
*shudder*
Imagine being able to get the medical care you need without having to worry about it bankrupting you.
You don't worry at all.
That's life in every other western country. Also dealing with the DVLA (DMV here in the UK) is a breeze. It's all done online, in my 10 years here I haven't had to visit a DVLA office for anything and previous to that in Australia, the last time I visited a DOT office was the day I got my license. Everything else could be done by post or online.
Maybe the US needs to start ele
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That's already the case with me. I have decent insurance through work....
Hell, I recently had to have surgery, and it didn't break the bank at all.
And I guess you're lucky over there for here dealing with the DMV is generally an all day cluster fuck, if you can get lucky and only deal with it 1 days.
There are some things the govt needs to do, by necessity that private could not do it...ie Defense, etc.
B
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I can send a letter via the USPS for a $.55 to Alaska from the continental US in 3 days. Fedex/UPS wants $Bucketload to ship a single sheet to anywhere.
The USPS is perhaps the best and maybe the only truly functioning government service. If they were allowed to keep their profit every year they would be making decent money. Instead they start at $0 and are always forced to ask the monkeys in Congress for money. The legislative chimps just want to line their pockets with what privatizing the postal service w
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"This is Peak Stupidity."
No, peak stupidity will be requiring it or your health insurance will go up 30%.
Requiring a subscription service or... God damn you. Stop giving them ideas!
Companies have a lifespan, just like people (Score:1)
This is Peak Stupidity.
For a toilet manufacturer, yeah, pretty much.
the End Times are Upon Us
No, it's just the end times for Kohler as they telegraph to potential customers that the engineers have left the building and its now run by the idiots in marketing. No company lasts forever. The inspired leadership there at the beginning eventually ages out. Boeing, Disney, etc. Kohler is no different.
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Actually there are markets where these might be reasonable. (MIGHT, I'm not real sure of their capabilities.) The ones I'm thinking of are pretty niche, though. Generally hospitals or care homes. (But they probably couldn't pay the costs.)
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This is Peak Stupidity.
For a toilet manufacturer, yeah, pretty much.
TFA shows the camera clips onto the rim of your existing toilet, below the seat; it's not a toilet with a built-in camera - not yet anyway. In any case; seems super dumb. Also, it has a fingerprint reader at the toilet-rim level - yuk. Sure the reader is on the outside, but sill below the seat at rim level.
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Seems like they really should have done an upward-facing camera as well so they could ID you without your fingerprint [theverge.com].
Let me guess... subscription / remote processing (Score:5, Insightful)
Who in their right mind would give their personal health information to a corporation that also has their billing information and can associate the two?
It's a matter of time before the database is cracked or sold (or, more likely, access is discretely rented). Then you try to get insurance, or it becomes part of employment background checks, or it's used to target you with yet more advertising.
If it could run locally and had a single upfront price, it might be an interesting health tool. As it likely really is, it's nothing but a privacy nightmare.
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Who in their right mind would give their personal health information to a corporation that also has their billing information and can associate the two?
I would. I take care of myself, and expect that device will show it, it just like it does show in my bloodwork. In effect sending a message to health insurers of "hey, this is a gold customer, offer him a great deal to keep him!".
That could go bad for you really fast. Plenty of people who "take care of themselves" develop conditions they have no control over. Indeed pretty much everyone eventually.
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There's this guy who opted into his driving being tracked for his insurance by an app on his phone, then he went on a roller coaster, and his driving score went down... Geico was the insurance.
Just don't opt in to crap like this, the saved money will come haunt you in random data hassles.
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Who in their right mind would give their personal health information to a corporation that also has their billing information and can associate the two?
Well, we all do this all the time. After all, our doctors, labs, and health insurance are all for-profit entities that have our very private financial and health info that we somehow trust will be secure and not misused.
The bigger question is whether this technology exists and whether it works. I use ColoGuard to detect colon cancer, but there is substantial published research to support its effectiveness. Does such published research exist for this camera-based method? I imagine detecting blood is doab
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Well, we all do this all the time. After all, our doctors, labs, and health insurance are all for-profit entities that have our very private financial and health info that we somehow trust will be secure and not misused.
Doctors and labs have to comply with HIPPA rules. I'm not sure if it applies to Kohler, but if they are serious they would comply voluntarily anyway. I don't sense seriousness here though.
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There are no hippos in health care, and no HIPPA.
It's HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Sorry for the typo. I'm Canadian, we have PHIA (Personal Health Information Act) here, but the same idea applies.
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Agree that running locally and being a single purchase would be better, but most of the other issue just aren't a problem for most of the world. insurance eligibility isn't an issue and the data protection safeguards prevent it from being used for employment reasons.
What's really interesting on this post is just how many people are having an emotional meltdown to one of the few recent innovations that could quite literally save their lives. Early detection of bowel cancer has a _massive_ impact on both surv
Pass (Score:3)
>"Kohler has launched the Dekoda, a $599 smart toilet camera that analyzes users' waste to track hydration, gut health, and detect potential issues like blood."
Um. No thanks. And, by the way, I think most people can manage to see blood and know what "normal" movements look like.
>"and a fingerprint sensor to identify who's using the toilet,"
Right, because we wouldn't want people to lie or something.
>"customers will need to pay between $70 and $156 per year for a subscription."
Of course. No modern purchase would be complete without an endless "service" revenue costing the consumer thousands of additional dollars!
>"It also notes that the resulting data is secured via end-to-end encryption."
We are REALLY concerned about the poo data being intercepted between the toilet and your servers. We are not at all concerned about your servers being hacked, or the data being shared or misused or any silly thing like that.
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"I think most people can manage to see blood "
This isn't intended to be in favour of this gadget but most people can't see blood in their urine or feces but it's there and detectable in a lab.
Which is why you submit samples to the lab for such things as colorectal screening.
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>"This isn't intended to be in favour of this gadget but most people can't see blood in their urine or feces but it's there and detectable in a lab."
Yeah, but my comment is in reference to a "camera". How is that going to detect blood better than my eyes? A camera isn't a lab instrument :)
I am sure future models might actually have fancier sensors that could do more. But, really, how is this silly toilet better than just pointing your smartphone in the toilet and using some app?
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>"and a fingerprint sensor to identify who's using the toilet,"
This is so that it associates the data with the correct person, when multiple people use the same toilet.
> Of course. No modern purchase would be complete without an endless "service" revenue costing the consumer thousands of additional dollars!
If there was no subscription and no cloud, this could be a good product. But that would require a nearby toilet hub (computer) that could do the computations. If this hub were a general purpo
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I think most people can manage to see blood and know what "normal" movements look like.
You'd be surprised how very little people know about what healthy looks like. Yeah seeing blood is a good indication that something is wrong, but the world is full of people struggling to squeeze out a turd oblivious to the fact that this is a direct indication of an unhealthy diet, poor gut health, and can lead to a world of poor health outcomes.
Now if you'll excuse me I need to go outside and have a smoke.
*this is a joke, but hopefully on the nose enough to make it immediately obvious a significant portio
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Poopeep, the camera that peeps your poo.
Hell to the no! (Score:5, Funny)
The prosecutor at a trial. if the jury will observe the screen the defendant clearly had corn the day before the incident clearly linking him to the crime. I'm sure there will be a NCIS or whatever with that plot soon.
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Hot grits I don't wanna see
just wait for the scam calls saying you need to fl (Score:2)
just wait for the scam calls saying you need to flip the camera
Gonna get hacked (Score:1)
And people are gonna pay to watch you poop on the dark web
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What next? (Score:2)
Special product announcement! New camera specially designed for your cat's kittylitter tray. Don't have a cat? That's OK, just get one for your boyfriend.
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You're joking but latest cat litter machines have cameras. Here from Petkit https://petkit.com/products/pu... [petkit.com]
The camera is useful if you have several cats, so you can then check on them while travelling. Cats might get stuck in a cardboard box or push a door and be stuck in a room. A cat litter machine without camera distinguishes them by weight, but that might not be enough to make sure they are all ok if two or more have similar stature.
Their cat litter includes pH colour indicator so they also help check
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You're joking but latest cat litter machines have cameras. Here from Petkit https://petkit.com/products/pu [petkit.com]... [petkit.com]
Thank you. I am now better informed. (You didn't say it, but I guess that is where the idea came from.)
The kittys are not what they seem.
Holy shit! (Score:5, Funny)
A toilet with a subscription! I shit you not, I did not see this coming.
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You didn't see it coming, cause you didn't have the camera! It is a crappy situation.
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LOL!
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someone is going to make a crapload of dough...
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Mod parent funnier, but the angle I was looking for in this story was analysis of urine to detect hydration and salt levels as well as general kidney function. But even I think analyzing the feces is going too far into the BS and the camera part of this story must be some kind of joke.
But I am reminded of Volume 22 of the "secrets" series. "Toire no Himitsu" in Japanese, sponsored by Toto. Everything you ever wanted to know about washlets and some more besides. (I've read the entire set, even including the
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If you shit it not, then it didn't see you coming either.
self-cleaning (Score:1)
What we really need are self-cleaning toilets, using that gecko technology that prevents anything from sticking.
What is the methodology and how is it validated? (Score:2)
Aside from the obvious privacy issues, the concern I have is that this product seems to be positioned as a medical device, but lacks any information about how it is measuring what it purports to measure. What studies support the analyses it claims to perform, and how are its methodologies validated?
It's deeply deceptive to sell a product that claims to track health-related data without disclosing how accurate or meaningful it is. Not only is such marketing exploiting the uneducated public and leading them
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Now that you frame it this way, I'm thinking of Theranos and their wild claims of how they'd do blood analysis.
GIGO? (Score:4, Funny)
It's still missing the obligatory AI to mis-interpret the results.
To be meme-complete, the collected data should be permanently recorded on the blockchain.
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Wrong connector (Score:2)
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To be meme-complete, the collected data should be permanently recorded on the blockchain.
This is one heck of a shit meme.
enshittification (Score:1)
subject says it all
American Dad predicted (Score:2)
Project Toilet Cam - American Dad [youtube.com]
They didn't name it ScatBot (Score:1)
Only for toilets? (Score:2)
smart toilet camera that analyzes users' waste to track hydration, gut health, and detect potential issues
Can it be attached to an F-18? Because someone apparently has some really, really bad intestinal issues [truthsocial.com] that need analyzing ...
IoShit (Score:2)
Re: IoShit (Score:1)
I see a competition in the future (Score:2)
Assuming that the poop shots can be easily accessed and posted to sites that vote on the best turd, it may turn turd wars into a viral sensation
No paid subscription! (Score:2)
Shit posting at it's best... (Score:2)
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All I can say is that I'm glad I didn't have to write the firmware and do the beta testing.
Hardware and Software can also be a problem.
You want just the right amount of firmware.
Fingerprint sensor? (Score:2)
Uh, where exactly am I sticking my finger?
They should talk to Xerox. I'm sure they have a large catalog of butt prints from drunken office parties we can use for identification.
Stool Scan (Score:2)
The Japanese already did this - https://mainichi.jp/english/ar... [mainichi.jp]
It scans the poop with a laser instead of taking a photo, and it sounds like processing is done on the device and results sent to a smartphone app.
Still ridiculous, but sounds like a more elegant solution than a wifi-connected camera if you're really interested in cataloguing the shape and texture of your bowel movements for some reason.
Enshittified shitter turns to shit (Score:2)
Smart Pipe (Score:1)
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I logged in purely to make a Smart Pipe comment. I didn't recognize Mark Proksch in that video when it first came out in ~2014.
Get a check up (Score:2)
You don't need a camera or some service contract. Just meet with your doctor on a regular basis (typically every three years, more frequently as you get older)
"Thank You." (Score:2)
"Thank You, Master."
"Insufficient sample, may I please have another?"
But do you really need an AI to tell you that your crap is too hard or too soft and that you are bleeding from your ass?
Being On The Curve (Score:2)
Someone in corporate was reading articles about enshitification and was not clear on the concept.
But aen't you glad I didn't say "being on the cutting edge"?
Adult Swim predicted this 10 years ago (Score:2)
"Smart Pipe" by Adult Swim parodied this over 10 years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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The seriousness of that went over the top and then built new things to go over the top of. Moderators please spend your points on the parent comment ^
Fingerprint sensor? (Score:2)
Where is it placed? And all other related questions...
Or does every ass have a unique print, and it recognizes that?
Enshittification (Score:1)
HEY, WAIT! (Score:2)
Last time _I_ revealed _my_ camera for a toilet, the cops came!
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More importantly (Score:2)
$600 camera to ANALyze my poo... (Score:2)
Or you could just get a German toilet. (Score:2)
Yeah, I know. Weird.
IOT dildo is cheaper (Score:2)
nuff sed
Needs a better name (Score:2)
Poo-Pic Pro
Waste Watch Wizard
Crapalyzer
and of course:
CrapSnap, the new social media app to share your crappings.