Bathroom Reading | Hacker News Reader

Bathroom Reading

reviewcanada.ca

54 pointsswibbler25 comments

Long long before the internet and portable computing devices I remember how I (and most people) would reach for whatever was closest to hand during long bathroom breaks.

If you were lucky there would be magazines (Readers Digest being common) or maybe a book or even a mail order catalog.

If you weren't lucky then you'd reach for a shampoo bottle and read the ingredients out of boredom.

Kids these days etc..

Argos catalogue was standard toilet reading here in the UK

I so relate to this. If I dont have my phone while at bathroom break, I will read the contents of shampoo bottle or something else.

I used to have a basket of magazines. This was probably one of my favorite things to read though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Bathroom_Book.

I used to be quite familiar with the extensive offerings of Uline.

I did the same thing at the dining table, reaching for whatever I can grab, a tin can for example, and read the paper indicating its contents and recipes.

Nowadays the smartphone is dominating.

”Public restrooms are not at all restful when it comes to the battleground of modern manners.”

I agree and would add that even private bathrooms are non restful if you live with someone.

That’s why I’m launching Loodio - A music player for bathrooms that plays music during your bathroom visit automatically thanks to a motion detector. (Kickstarter February)

Demo video: https://youtu.be/Z3DgxwjSTfg

Ever since I started dating I’ve always hated the embarrassment of the sounds, so I made a prototype with a Raspberry Pi a few years ago. Lots of people thought it was a good idea so hopefully I’ll get it funded.

I can’t tell if this is real or fake. (Is that a camera I see??)

That's a pir-sensor: https://www.elektor.com/hc-sr501-pir-motion-sensor-module

Good luck on your project. Post it to HN once you launch your Kickstarter. I know many toilet seats in Asia play music, so there is definitely a demand for this kind of thing.

Thanks Rocky! Yeah for sure! :)

This is a feature in many public toilets in Japan. (or perhaps not public, but at least the restrooms in more upscale locations like nice hotels and restaurants). It is not the only amazing feature (I miss Japanese toilets) and I do recall having to trigger it manually, at the time.

Yeah I've only seen them on video actually but I know how they work. What I don't like about them apart from being very expensive to install is that I don't want to touch anything in the bathroom, especially the toilet. Loodio is totally automatic.

Meh, I just uploaded a video here for you instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2uZT4d19Lk

I like your video! 3D rendering vs an actual person going to the bathroom works well here. Though I do question why he keeps his pants on while doing the deed...

You should include some flugelhorn music. It's almost audio camouflage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FExBwfQHXlE

Thanks! That's actually just a tease of an upcoming longer video. Yeah we decided to have some decency and keep his pants on. :P I think everyone still gets the message?

We have built our own custom audio mixer to noise cancel the unwanted sounds without microphones and achieve what you are talking about, more info coming in a few weeks!

We have a loud bathroom fan (same switch as the lights) that does a pretty good job.

Separately, I'm not sure if the name is great - my instinct is to pronounce it "lewd-ee-oh," but that might just be me. (Lewd meaning "crude and offensive in a sexual way.")

Yeah so this product would be for the people that don't have those and instead flush the tap water, play music on their phones or home stereo systems to cover unwanted noises.

Haha have not heard that feedback before but the name is already set. It's easy to say in most languages and non-conflicting with any other products/businesses SEO-wise. Also managed to get the .com after many months of negotiating!

How hard would it be to add a heat sensor? My motion sensing lights shut off all the time because scrolling my phone is not enough motion to keep them activated whilst multitasking in the loo.

We are going to look into this for the next version and perhaps combine the pir-sensor with a proximity sensor. (You can’t use proximity only since people walking by the bathroom will also trigger it) but in the current version this is instead solved by letting the user adjust the time it will play since last motion detected, and the side lights (acts as night lights during night) also indicate when the music is about to turn off so you don’t get a quiet surprise ;)

I have tested this myself for a year and it works great.

There are some features so that you can have it playing without the need for motion if you know you’re going to spend a longer time in the bathroom without moving (for example showering/bathing).

> plays music during your bathroom visit automatically thanks to a motion detector

Does it also play music during urination?

Yes. But easily muted with 1 button press if you don’t want music this bathroom visit. (Then jumps back again to music for the next person)

Found the article kinda wandering and hard to follow, but I'm totally here for this:

"Henry VIII’s toilet block at his Hampton Court Palace was known as the Great House of Easement"

We call the bathroom "The National Library" because it had bookshelves and we all spent quite some time reading there.

Are people constipated? Is that why they have all this free time in the bathroom?

Some people don't need to/feel like rushing life and can take their time to use the bathroom.

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