10 of World's Weird and Funny Toilets

In terms of crazy stuff, I always got a thing from Oddee.com who usually showcased weird stuff articles. I gotta say thanks to that!

A toilet is a plumbing fixture primarily intended for the disposal of human excreta: urine and fecal matter. Additionally, vomit and menstrual waste are sometimes disposed of in toilets in some societies. The word toilet describes the fixture and, especially in British English, the room containing the fixture.

In American English, the latter is euphemistically called a restroom or bathroom. The latter term often describes a room that also contains a bath tub. A room with only a toilet and a sink is sometimes called a half-bathroom, a half bath, or a powder room.

Yeah, so much for the definition. I present to you 10 of the world's weird toilets:

1 - MP3 Toilet

Besides including gizmos like a seat heater, automatic washer, and electronic controlled seat, this toilet includes a full fledged MP3 player with a SD card slot. The control panel with the MP3 player can be attached on the wall. 16 classic tunes are included with the SD card. The MP3 player can Random playback, One Tune playback and so on. It conserves power by studying the time patterns of usage and thus not heating the seat when the toilet is least used. The fully loaded N5A seat costs $1750.

2 - Aquarium toilet

Add a little life to your bathroom with this live aquarium. The fully functioning tank fits American Standard bowls. Custom bowl installation is available. It was designed by Oliver Beckert and it features a 3/8" acrylic tank, 1.6 gpf., and 22" x 14" x 9" deep.

3 - Waterless Toilet

This toilet is ingenious. Although it looks like a UFO, the main purpose of this toilet is to provide a fully-functioning, hygienic toilet that contains all pollution and sterilizes all the harmful bacteria without the use of chemicals, running water, or electricity. The container is portable, compact, easy to assemble, and is great for rural, developing areas.

4 - Public Semi-Transparent Toilet

It is impossible to see into the toilet, which is free to use, but the person inside can see passers-by. An artist has created this usable public toilet in a glass cube to challenge the curiosity -and bravery- of people passing London's Tate Britain gallery. Visitors have to "defy their own embarrassment" to use the minimalist cubicle, made from one-way mirrored glass.

5 - Portable Toilet

The Insipod is a portable Toilet that works like a tent. When not in use, it fits in a small wrapped package. But when deployed, the nylon shell spreads out like a balloon to not only provide privacy but also to contain all the smells that come with using the restroom.

6 - Dagobert Throne Toilet

Take your bathroom back a few years with this pull chain antique style toilet that perfectly accents a clawfoot bathtub in your vintage bathroom. The toilet comes with an ashtray, candle holder, and hand painted toilet bowl and plaque. It includes a song when lid is raised, and features a solid ash throne with 3 layers of polyurethane coating, a pull chain flush with bell, ashtray in arm, and a candle.

7 - Hands-Free Toilet

A company called "Bottoms Up LLC" claims to have ushered in the dawning of a new age, with its hands-free toilet seat. It's essentially a toilet set with a motor that lifts it up and down without having to touch it. Probably a good thing for public restrooms. No more having to lift the seat with the sole of my shoe.

8 - Incinerating Toilet

You first press a button to start the heating system and then put a special purpose coated paper bowl liner (coffee filters just won't do) down between two sloping pieces of steel. This is the gateway to Hades. You then poo or pee into the paper filter, step onto a lever, and wave goodbye to your human by-products and any toilet paper! It is manufactured by Incinolet.

9 - Massaging Toilet

The Royalet super seats installs onto your standard toilet, and gives you all the functions you could imagine: washing, heating, deodorising, massaging, drying... you even set the water and seat temp!

10 - Disappearing Urinal

The Urilift system is a two-meter high stainless steel cylinder with three alcoves, each with a urinal, and no doors. By day, the Urilift is lowered below street level for a nice clean look. Then at night, an operator comes by with a remote and the Urilift hydraulically lifts to sidewalk level in about two minutes. Then the unit is ready to serve all the nighttime party animals who don't mind peeing in a very exposed public urinal. The $75,000 system has been installed across the Netherlands, and have spread to London and Belfast, but Victoria will be the first North American city to try them out.

• Reference/Source: Oddee.com [5/28/2007]