With aging populations adding to the pressure on already stretched care services in many countries around the world, the search for robotic solutions to help look after the elderly and frail is gathering pace.
Senior citizens who’re no longer mobile need help with a range of activities, including getting in and out of bed, bathing, and eating. Of course, they also need a hand, quite literally, when visiting the bathroom.
Butt wiper
Although well-intentioned, it’s fair to say that the latest creation by the self-described “queen of shitty robots” is unlikely to be pre-ordered by nursing homes anytime soon. Because it’s terrifying.
The popular YouTuber, real name Simone Giertz, has just built a butt-wiping bot, which, judging by the sheer ferocity with which it operates, will likely cause a particular part of your anatomy to recoil in horror when you see it in action.
Comprising little more than an Arduino microcontroller and what appears to be a power drill stuck to a toilet lid, Giertz admits at the very start of her video that she’s built something “potentially horrible.”
For some strange reason, the Swedish inventor was unable to persuade a real live human being to sit on the toilet seat for a demonstration of her fledgling technology. So instead she uses a far more compliant individual – otherwise known as a mannequin – that happens to have “the flattest ass I’ve ever seen,” according to Giertz.
Multiple tests of the invention show it to be scary and not particularly useful in equal measure, with the entire toilet roll spinning at such a high speed one can only wince thinking of the mess it’d create if the ropey-looking contraption suddenly disintegrated mid-turn.
It’s fair to say the butt-wiping robot needs some work.
You can witness the full horror of Giertz’s latest invention in the video below. A note of caution – it contains language that’ll make your granny blush.
Giertz currently has more than 350,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel and 16.3 million video views.
“I love the niche that I’ve created for myself,” she told Digital Trends earlier this year. Her first creation was a characteristically absurd robotic toothbrush incorporated into a skateboard helmet. “I published it on YouTube and put it on Reddit, without thinking too much about it. It got thousands of views in half a day. Since then, it’s just grown to something bigger than I ever, ever anticipated.”
