Aninteractive urinal is a device that allows users to playvideo games or control interactive displays while urinating. Several designs have been produced to date, usually comprising aurinal fitted with a pressure sensor to measure the strength and position of the urine flow and anLCD screen mounted above the urinal to provide animated graphics.[1][2]
ABritish company called Captive Media developed and patented an interactivevideo game system for installation aboveurinal bowls in 2011.[3] Their system operates by use ofinfra-red detection of urine temperature, with the sensors integral to the screen unit which is positioned above the bowl. Amongst others, the system is installed in The Exhibit Bar inBalham in London,[4] and Ta Bouche Bar inCambridge, UK.[5]
Players control the system by directing their stream left or right. Currently the system has two games:
Players can then access an affiliated website called Captive Games to view their scores on a leader board, and useTwitter to broadcast them. When not in use the screens displayentertainment content, includingYouTube videos andInternet memes, as well as the venue's own promotional material and third-partyadvertisements.
In 2006 the design magazineYanko Design presented a concept for a urinal containing a pressure-sensitive display screen that is triggered when it is urinated on, producing images and sound. According to the designer, Marcel Neundorfer, it transforms urination into "more than just a necessary nuisance. By projecting the game experience into the public space, viewers are treated to a new way of visualizing the abstract, and the entertainment value is boosted."[1]
An interactive urinal named PlaceToPee, formerly named PleeStation (plee means "toilet" in Dutch), was devised in Belgium by software engineer Werner Dupont and electrical engineer Bar Geraets. The pair came up with the idea during a drinking session in a bar and attracted the interest of sanitary equipment company Guedens Sanitair Verhuur, which provided financial support to develop a single PlaceToPee unit.[6] The PlaceToPee was installed in the 2007 GamePower Expo inGhent with a racing game that allowed visitors to steer on-screen cars with their urine. The system gave warnings to players about drunk driving if their urine was off-target. It was shut down after the Belgian police deemed it to be indecent.[7] The following year the makers displayed the PlaceToPee at the "Arendonk Zingt & Swingt" festival. It allowed users to answer on-screen questions by urinating in a particular direction. The creators publicly expressed confidence in their product and suggested that it could be used as a sophisticated means of counting votes for theMiss Belgium contest.[8] Women are catered for by providing them with a cardboard cone to direct their urine.[6]
The interactive urinal communicator is anadvertising device invented bybioengineer Dr. Richard Deutsch for theIslip, New York company Wizmark. The 3.5-inch (8.9 cm) screen is placed in aurinal to promote products or services. Deutsch commented, "Now when nature calls, there is going to be something entertaining to look at and listen to."[9]
Features of the advertising include:
Deutsch commented toMarketing Magazine that "Beginning with early attempts at writing one's name in the snow, there has always been an element of recreation associated withurination for men." Such advertising vehicles are not entirely new: some plain screens have carried advertising for a few years now and poster style ads in washrooms are quite common. The use of interactive urinal screens is being advocated byguerrilla marketers.[10]
In 2009, artist Ricardo Carvalho and programmer Alias Cummings created an interactive urinal entitledGlobal Warming, in which the trail of urine hits on a grid of ultra sensitivepiezos housed within the urinal. The strength and direction of the urine is calculated and used to control the navigation of a 3D Earth globe, leaving a trail of thousands of Google Earth place markers on its surface. The spectator's action is reminiscent ofspraying, the animal behaviour of identifying andmarking territory.Global Warming, besides its obvious environmental connotation, is an ironic take on how primitive territorial instincts, such as the visceral act of spraying, can be exercised through supposedly intelligent and networked devices and at the same time disguised by them.[11]
.jpg)
TheJapanese companySega has developed an interactive urinal system called the Toylet.[2] A choice of four mini-games can be selected:
The Toylet records players' scores and allows them to be saved onto aUSBmemory stick. Advertisements are shown between games. The system was installed in the men's toilets in four stations of theTokyo Metro, includingAkihabara,Soga, andIkebukuro. It was trialed until the end of January 2011.[2] Some units are available at the new Tokyo SegaJoypolis.
Simulated versions of Toylets are playable in the video gameYakuza Kiwami 2.
