Tooshlights is an LED system that lets you see which toilet stalls are occupied.
LA based Allen Klevens and Todd Bermann have been developing the Tooshlight system for the past year. The way it works is, the LED lights are connected to the door latches, known as ‘Tooshlatches’, and changes from green to red when a toilet door is locked.
The Tooshlights shortened queues and wait times, making it almost essential for big events. Tooshlight’s first client was the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, America. The 17,000 seat concert venue has restroom lines that stretch out of the doors despite some stalls remaining vacant. With the Tooshlights installed in one of the women’s toilets a spokesperson confirmed that the wait times decreased. Director of Operations at The Hollywood Bowl, Ed Tom, said:
Tooshlights at our venue have really improved the flow of traffic in the restroom facilities. There is no more standing in line waiting for stalls that are actually sitting unoccupied. Our patrons have definitely noticed the difference!
Kleven’s says that the next venues to feature Tooshlights will be sports and entertainment venues, hoping to expand and be placed in malls, airports, schools and theme parks. There are also plans to integrate Tooshlight in to venue’s apps so that people can find the nearest available toilets.
The Tooshlight system sounds effective but a problem they encountered was that it may not work for colourblind people. They could take inspiration from a car park in America though. The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport car park, not only uses the colours of green and red but also the brightness of the light changes. For example, the LED light over an occupied space shines at 30% brightness whereas an open space shines at 90% brightness.
Clients of Tooshlights have the option to use the system to gather information. For example, it could track if a stall was consistently vacant indicating that the it may need maintenance.
Tooshlights are available at $300 (£175) per stall and can be customised for an extra $500 (£290).