There is a startling advancement in home technology here, Kohler has introduced a smart toilet camera, which they named Dekoda, to be installed on the rim of your toilet that monitors your poops to provide indicators of health.
What it does Dekoda is an optical camera with AI algorithms to scan the action inside your toilet bowl, where data about things such as urine and stool consistency and color change, hydration, and even the presence of blood can be detected.
The goal? To provide you with early responses regarding gut, hydration state, and potential health threats immediately out of your bathroom.
Key features include:
- Clamp on sensor that attaches to most typical toilet bowls (however, darker-colored toilets can cause differences in readings).
- A fingerprint-secured remote is available on a wall to identify users in a multi-person household and guarantee privacy.
- Information can safely be transferred to the Kohler Health mobile app (currently iOS, the Android version is being developed), where one can follow your readings throughout your life.
- Analytics subscriptions: The hardware is available at prices of approximately USD 599, and the complete analytics service is approximately USD70-156 annually.
Why It Matters
Most health conditions begin in the backdrop, and early detection can be of great importance.
Researchers indicate that the bathroom is the place that we all use every day and may give some valuable insights as to the state of our body.
The Dekoda system is meant to convert such routine use into a health monitoring opportunity.
As an example, the change in stool can be a symptom of digestion problems, regular urine is dark or red, which may indicate information about hydration disorders or stress on kidneys.
Keeping an eye on such indicators in the house can cause a faster doctor visit and healthier lifestyles.
Privacy and accuracy issues
The thought of a camera being peeped through the bowl could be disturbing, and Kohler does not underline that Dekoda does not see anything outside or on the walls of the bowl, only the interior through downward looking cameras.
The entire data is encrypted end-to-end with user fingerprint identities.
Nevertheless, the user is to be informed that this device is not considered a medical diagnostic.
It indicates the tendencies and possible issues, yet a serious health concern remains a topic to be addressed by a professional.
Where Technology Will Take Us
The wider vision is more ambitious, even though now Dekoda serves individual users.
Think about intelligent bathrooms that can communicate with AIs to check on your health and provide you with information and notifications in real time.
This may be particularly helpful to the aging group, those who may also be having chronic issues, or people who may desire to monitor their health more closely at home.
Other start-ups such as Throne have been working on similar technology, and it reveals how fast the area is developing.
Status & Availability & Next Steps Dekoda, a combination of availability and Next, is in preorder, and it is expected to be shipped soon. The cost will be high, but with the maturity of the technology and the emergence of a lot of competition, we could soon find cheaper versions of it targeting global markets.
Want to know more about how health tech can be used at home and how wellness can be tracked in a new way? Your bathroom may become the next target.
