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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday March 21 2017, @02:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the squeezably-soft dept.

The New York Times published an article about toilet paper theft and the use of technology to prevent it:

The toilet paper thieves of the Temple of Heaven Park were an elusive bunch.

They looked like most park visitors, practicing tai chi, dancing in the courtyards and stopping to take in the scent of ancient cypress and juniper trees. But hidden in their oversize shopping bags and backpacks was a secret: sheet upon sheet of crumpled toilet paper, plucked surreptitiously from public restrooms.

Now the authorities in Beijing are fighting back, going so far as to install high-tech toilet paper dispensers equipped with facial recognition software in several restrooms.

Before entering restrooms in the park, visitors must now stare into a computer mounted on the wall for three seconds before a machine dispenses a sheet of toilet paper, precisely two feet in length. If visitors require more, they are out of luck. The machine will not dispense a second roll to the same person for nine minutes.

This seems to be too funny to be real, but the article has an animated GIF that demonstrates this device's operation.


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  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday March 21 2017, @10:15PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Tuesday March 21 2017, @10:15PM (#482435)

    It's easy to spot Americans who recoil in public European bathrooms when the cleaning lady is just doing her job a few feet away.

    Get over it guys. She doesn't give a darn about your junk.

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