Facial Recognition Toilet Paper Dispensers Installed In Chinese Public Restrooms

Of all things, China has to deal with a toilet paper problem.

Citizens have been discovered taking too much paper or just stealing them from public restrooms.

To deal with this ridiculous problem? The government of China has decided to install what is called the facial recognition toilet paper dispensers.

Apparently, when citizens want to use toilet paper, they will need to put their faces in front of the paper dispensers. And they will be given only 90cm of the toilet paper.

What if they need more paper? Sorry, but they will have to endure a 9-minute-wait and go through another scan.

Now, you might probably think what on Earth is this? But the project has proved to be efficient as the toilet paper wastage has been reduced and the cleanliness of public toilets has been maintained.

Before this, each day, restrooms use up 14 paper rolls. But now, the number has declined to 4 rolls each day.

The first dispenser of this kind was set up in the Temple of Heaven public toilet in 2017. Not long after that, restrooms across China has been utilizing this to keep the use of the public bathroom in check.

Some toilets are even equipped with sensors for ammonium levels measuring. If needed, it will dispense a deodorizer. When citizens stay too long in a cubical, an alarm will go off.

This movement is president Xi Jinping’s method to make public restrooms’ conditions better. One might think that this intrudes into toilet users’ privacy, but others appreciate how the toilet is kept clean thanks to this.