China anti-theft toilet paper by technology

Public toilets in the capital Beijing - China began using facial recognition technology to prevent widespread theft of toilet paper.

At Thien Dan, one of the tourist attractions attracts many tourists in Beijing's capital and used to be a hot spot of toilet paper theft, people using toilets need paper towels to stand in front of a wall-mounted machine. There is a high resolution camera for toilet paper.

One person can only take 60-70cm of toilet paper in every 9 minutes.

Chinese toilets install devices to provide toilet paper to identify faces.(Photo: The Beijinger).

The device can memorize many faces in the near future and if someone returns to the toilet for a certain period of time, it will refuse to provide toilet paper.

Face detection camera requires people using toilet paper to remove hats and sunglasses.

For many years, many Chinese people often take toilet paper from public toilets to take home.

Recently, Chinese media investigated this situation and found that most of the toilet paper thieves are elderly. This behavior has put a financial burden on the management of public toilets.

Occasionally, a new roll of paper disappears within a few minutes, leaving behind users with no paper to use. Besides, Thien Dan management said that they still provide toilet paper rolls in the old way because not everyone accepts new technology.

A person is taking toilet paper from a smart machine with a face detection camera.(Photo: The Beijinger).

In addition, new technology raises concerns about privacy infringement. And yet, face processing time usually takes 3 seconds, sometimes more than 1 minute, making some people uncomfortable when needing to use the toilet urgently.

This smart toilet paper equipment has become a topic of discussion on social networks in China. Most people believe that toilet paper theft should be prevented but there are some who argue that it should not be serious.

A network user WeChat warned: "Cheap toilet paper in public toilets contains a lot of toxic substances such as fluorescence. Overuse will only harm the health."