Experience Prototype

In the initial stages of the project, we looked at the washroom area.

If you ask most people what the most dangerous/disgusting location of a building is, they will likely answer “the washroom.” The washroom stall is the ultimate private space in a building, where people leave biological material of all kinds. Some of it goes down the toilet, but there is a remainder.

To some this concept is enough to take draconian precautions against contact with the seat, door handle, or tissue dispenser. To others, it is the washroom poses a benign risk and they are content to continue using the without protection because they have never traced an illness it its use. For both types of people, and for the plain curious, we propose a service to make visible the assumed dangers of the washroom.

An initial implementation of this service might be a simple coin-activated device that would be installed in a common washroom stall. By inserting a 10 cent coin into a slot, the user will power a series of Ultraviolet lights for a timed period of 10 seconds. An unholy variety of bacteria found in body fluids fluoresce under UV lights, including:

- sweat
- saliva
- urine
- semen
- feces

This service will allow people to evaluate the cleanliness of a washroom stall with regards to that which they can't see, and maybe choose one over another. Within the stall, they can identify the offending material, and make a “plan” of areas to avoid, or areas they can protect themselves by using a barrier like tissue, for example. Beyond the state of the stall itself, the effect of the ultraviolet glow can be used to check your own clothes and skin…who knows what kind of unpleasant bacteria you'll find on yourself?

The cleaning staff who attend to the washrooms can use this service to target areas they need to clean more thoroughly as well as rinse more thoroughly. This is because it is not only human debris which can accumulate massive amounts of bacteria: soap scum, the dull film that soap can leave behind when not thoroughly rinsed, is teeming with opportunistic pathogens that are especially dangerous to an unprotected cut or a compromised immune system. It is even possible that a light-sensitive monitoring system could react to the cumulative glow of left-over bacteria under the black light and notify housekeeping staff to attend to the situation.

This sort of service, while complex, could be a more efficient cleaning model then the cyclic cleaning that occurs at regular intervals regardless of need. This could decrease the unnecessary use of harsh cleaners and phosphate impact on the local environment. Such a monitoring system could also contribute to a regularly updated cleanliness index.

This leads on to another point of interest, the idea of developing a standard , or acceptable level of bacteria build up in a bathroom, or any public space for that matter. This suggests possible cultural implications in the gap between an acceptance of what appears to be unpleasant and what might be officially recognized as dangerous.

Ultraviolet light has another convenient quality. Exposure to UV light kills Salmonella, E. Coli, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Hepatitis, and many other bacteria and viruses that cause infectious diseases. A member of the cleaning staff could access the device using a key, and turn on a constant stream of light, and lock the stall. About 10 minutes later, the risk of excessive bacteria build up would be cut considerably.

The initial scope of this investigation/proposal has been the Institute. The stakeholders in this scenario are the maintenance staff, the academic staff, students, and guests.

The expanded scope is any public or semi-public area (restaurants, stores) that houses washrooms for the public to use.

The stakeholders in this system would naturally be those who use and maintain the washrooms. All stakeholders are potential users of the service, as the service targets the concerned and the curious.

The progression of this service might be as follows:

A simple marketing campaign (stickers, posters on stall doors), as well as the newfound presence of coin-operated machines in the restroom boosting awareness of the system. The low price of use (10 centesimi) would ensure that most anyone who is curious about the service would try it while idly doing their business in the stall. Once the service is tried, users recognize the bacteria buildup and become aware of the widespread presence of not only bacteria, but human excrement. Whether or not the user appreciates this service, it is sure to generate word-of-mouth publicity.

The availability of this service affects the behavior of both the users and the maintenance staff. The staff can now use the service to better clean the washrooms, as well as understand patterns and recognize problem areas. Cleaning regimes alter to become flexible to the usage level, and cleaning product use is reduced to a more efficient/bare minimum amount – only when excessive bacteria levels are reached as opposed to a ‘blind' daily usage standard.

The technologies used are:

UV lamps

Coin-operated machinery

Monitoring/feedback system to check bacteria build-up