David Macaulay's The New Way Things Work helps us understand in a heavily visual, humorous, unerringly precise way what gadgets such as a toilet, a carburetor, and a fire extinguisher have in common. The award-winning author-illustrator--a former architect and junior high school teacher--is perfectly poised to be the Great Explainer of the whirrings and whizzings of the world of machines, a talent that landed the 1988 version of The Way Things Work on the New York Times bestsellers list for 50 weeks.
Advanced technology is being integrated into toilets with more and more functions, especially in Japan.
By far the largest toilet manufacturer in the world, producing over 7 million toilets annually,
is TOTO in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Such toilets can cost from US$2,000 to $4,000. The features are operated by control pads (sometimes with bilingual labels), and even hand-held remote control devices. Some of these features are: Water jets, or "bottom washers" like a bidet, as an alternative to toilet paper; The "Washlet," Toto's portable hand-held bottom washer ; Blow dryers, to dry the body after use of water jets ; Artificial flush sounds, to mask noises such as body functions ; Urine and stool analysis, for medical monitoring. Matsushita's "Smart Toilet" checks blood pressure, temperature, and blood sugar. ; Digital clock, to monitor time spent in the bathroom ; Automatic lid operation, to open and close the lid ; Heated seats ; and Deodorizing fans . From Wikipedia, The free online encyclopedia.
Below are links to internet sites of manufacturers who have illustrations or demostrations of how their products work.
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