Credit: AP Photo/John Locher
A niche product, but arguably a necessary one.
Being stuck on the porcelain throne without any TP is a truly miserable state of being. There’s no course of action you can take that wouldn’t be immensely unpleasant and/or embarrassing. Toilet paper manufacturer Charmin understands the pain of being TP-bereft, so at CES they’ve unveiled a little helper for such a situation.
At CES, Charmin revealed the RollBot, a Bluetooth-controlled rolling robot whose sole purpose in life is to deliver you a fresh roll of Charmin toilet paper. If you’re out of TP, you can use your smartphone to summon RollBot, which will balance a roll on its head and bring it to your helpless feet.
In addition to RollBot, Charmin revealed two more bathroom-centric products at CES. The first, SmellSense, is a bathroom odor detector that can alert you when your private office completely reeks. It can detect carbon dioxide odors surprisingly quickly and will let you know when it’s safe to enter. The second device, V.I.Pee, is a new kind of porta-potty intended for use at large concerts. The stall features a built-in Oculus Rift S VR headset that will give you a clear view of the venue stage even while you’re indisposed. This is helpful for those that need to leave the show to do their business, but don’t want to miss any of the fun stuff.
All of these items are merely concept products; they’re not going up for sale in the foreseeable future. Still, if there’s a demand for them, it wouldn’t be surprising for Charmin to attempt a commercial roll out, though whoever would vocally demand these things would be a much braver person than I.
