In what could be considered the ultimate fusion of personal health tracking and bathroom technology, Japanese toilet manufacturer Toto Ltd. is pushing the boundaries of biohacking with its groundbreaking new product: a smart toilet that analyzes your stool.
Set to hit the market this August, the high-end “Neorest” models will feature a first-of-its-kind “stool scan” function that measures volume, hardness, color, and other properties of users’ bowel movements. This innovation represents a significant advancement in home health monitoring technology, allowing consumers to track digestive health patterns without manual logging.
“Many people already check their stool condition, but very few document it consistently,” says a Toto representative, citing their research showing that while 76% of users visually inspect their output, only 6% record this information digitally.
The technology employs a barcode-like scanning module installed beside the toilet’s warm-water cleaning nozzle. When a user sits down, the scanner activates, capturing data about waste as it enters the bowl. This information is then wirelessly transmitted to a dedicated smartphone application.
The sophisticated analysis system categorizes stool into seven different shapes and hardness types, ranging from granular to banana-shaped to liquid, while also noting surface texture variations. Color is classified into three categories: ochre, brown, or dark brown, and volume is rated as high, medium, or low.
Through the companion app, users can view their data on a calendar, track patterns over time, and receive personalized lifestyle recommendations based on their digestive trends.
The new smart toilets will be available in two premium models: the LS-W, starting at approximately $3,650, and the AS-W, beginning at around $3,330. Toto projects sales of 7,300 units annually by the third year after release.
Since introducing its revolutionary “Washlet” bidet seat in 1980, Toto has continuously innovated in bathroom technology, focusing initially on cleanliness, comfort, and sustainability. This latest development signals the company’s strategic pivot toward health-oriented products for wellness-conscious consumers.
The question remains whether consumers are ready to embrace such intimate health tracking or if this represents biohacking gone too far. As our lives become increasingly quantified through wearable devices and smart home technology, the bathroom appears to be the next frontier for health data collection.
For those concerned about privacy, Toto emphasizes that all data is securely stored and analyzed solely for the user’s benefit. Whether this level of biological self-surveillance represents the future of preventative healthcare or an unnecessary intrusion into one’s most private moments will ultimately be decided by the market’s response when these high-tech machines debut next month.