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Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Robotic toilet paper dispenser
Kimberly-Clark Professional is introducing an automated toilet paper dispenser for institutional use. Like electronic paper towel dispensers, you wave your hand in front of a motion sensor and it spits out the toilet paper. Thing is, the system is preset to issue just five sheets at a time. Fortunately, it can be reprogrammed. From the Associated Press:
"Most people will take the amount given," says (Kimberly-Clark's Richard) Thorne. Waxing philosophical, he adds, "People generally in life will take what you give them."Link (Thanks, Charles Pescovitz!)
Kimberly-Clark turned to focus groups and years of internal research to determine just how much is right.
Americans typically use twice as much toilet paper as Europeans -- as much as an arm's length each pull, Thorne says. The company decided the best length is about 20 inches -- or precisely five standard toilet paper squares, though the machine can also be adjusted to churn out 16 inches or 24 inches, depending on the demand.
posted by David Pescovitz at 11:23:21 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments
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