Here at the Bathroom Readers’ Institute, we like to keep you up to date on the all the latest breakthroughs in toilet technology. Here are some potties on the cutting edge of bathroom science.
So fancy!
Bathroom fixture company Kohler offers a model called the Numi. It’s loaded with features that turn using the facilities into a luxurious experience. The Numi has sensors that can tell when a user is approaching (and leaving), so the lid opens and closes automatically. A touch-screen display allows multiple users to set their profiles—such as what temperature and pressure they want the bidet to clean them up when they’re done, what temperature they want the heated seat (and toe warmers), and if they’d like the built-in speaker system to play music when they sit down to cover up any sounds their body might make. It’s also got an illuminated display (for when nature calls in the middle of the night) and a charcoal-powered deodorizing system. Cost of the Numi: $6,400.
So clean!
Toilet manufacturer American Standard has introduced technology that addresses what’s probably the worst thing about toilets: how gross it is to clean them. Enter: VorMax. VorMax-outfitted toilets have a specially curved rim to ensure that solid waste does not stick around. Other surfaces are treated with substances that equally discourage material from staying. Coupled with one of the most powerful flushes on the market triggering jets of water, American Standard calls VorMax “the cleanest flush ever engineered.”
So sleek!
Design Odyssey’s Vertebrae is so named because it looks like a human spine with all of those bones sticking out. It’s also much more than a toilet—the Vertebrae is an entire bathroom’s worth of necessities in one tall, space-saving silver tower. A sink, toilet, and shower are housed in modules within the column, and each pulls out. A user could even use all three at the same time. The cost: as much as $15,000.