Coin-laundry machines meet IT
Many young Japanese use coin-laundry to wash their clothes because there is not enough space in their 15 sqm rooms. These coin-laundry shop are un-staffed and can be used around the clock — not a big problem as vandalism is not existing in Japan.
Sanyo Electric has developed a communications adapter for coin-laundry machines that connects through NTT’s ADSL or FTTH to the Internet. This feature will enable the users to see if a machine in their favorite coin-laundry shop is available. It furthermore, sends a mail to the user’s mobile phone or PC once the washing is finished. The shop owner can use the connection to monitor the sales and usage of his shop.
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November 27th, 2004 at 9:26 am
Cool, but can you get a gadget that let’s me know if the microwave has finished my Pizza?
November 27th, 2004 at 11:09 am
As someone that lives in an apartment this is actually kind of cool. Think about it… you no longer have to stay right there and wait for your laundry to complete its cycle. You can do other things and be right there when the cycle completes instead of wondering when exactly you started the machine. I like the idea.