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Design students' award-winning, yoga-promoting supertoilet

By Rain Noe - April 28, 2009

in Object Culture

Led by faculty members John Takamura and Dosun Shin, students at Arizona State U.'s College of Design have come up with a "transgenerational toilet design concept" called Go With the Flo. The unusual-looking loo won the Breaking the Rules Silver Award at the Northwest Design Invitational, meeting five "outstanding design" criteria: "Appropriate aesthetics, design innovation, ecological responsibility and market and user benefits."

So what does it do, exactly?

The Flo toilet is an ergonomic, sustainable design concept for baby boomers that functions like a squat toilet. Designers maintain that using the Flo toilet is akin to yoga - by building and strengthening abdominal and back muscles. Only one-half to one gallon of water is used for flushing and The Flo reuses water from hand washing. To flush water from the tanks to the toilet, the Flo employs an electromagnetic ball valve. Go With the Flo also is free of mechanical parts. The toilet is fully self-sustaining and independent of electric power.

More info on the Flo is available here.

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mb

15 years ago

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this is basically a re-working of the pit/squat toilets you see all over japan, both in homes as well as public restrooms. to dave: the idea is, generally speaking, if you start out using a toilet like this it will build and strengthen abdominal and back muscles usually preventing those leg and back problems you are referring to. the fact that there are millions of japanese over 70 who use this type of toilet daily i think attests to that.
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a.e.

15 years ago

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How can it employ an "electromagnetic ball valve" and yet be "independent of electric power"?
hmmmmm
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dave

15 years ago

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If the cistern is supposed to be on the floor then people with leg and back problems and old people will find, if not difficult, unable to use this invention. I wonder how they won the award.
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