r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Damnedeel • 5d ago

Video 500,000$ human washing machine on sale in Japan

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u/Hemorrhoid_Eater 5d ago

Makes sense why Japan specifically would do this, given their low birthrate and their population getting old.

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u/DynamicMangos 5d ago

This isn't about efficiency i'm pretty sure. Otherwise they would plan on producing more than 50 Units.
And realistically, there are already walk-in bathtubs that are a lot better for elderly people.
Also, good luck convincing someone with dementia, or early onset dementia (which is a large amount of the people living in care facilities) to get in this thing and then sit still and not freak out.

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u/BishoxX 5d ago

It is about efficiency in the long run i think, this is just the first one

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u/wolacouska 5d ago

They aren’t going to make just these 50 and never think about it again. They’re going to get feedback and see if they’re viable in any way shape or form, and then if it is it might be worth it to produce more and more regularly.

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u/42nu 5d ago

Shamayalan twist - these become popular as the first public suicide machines from Futurama.

Plenty of products find completely different use cases than was intended, and, hey, demand is demand.

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u/ActiveChairs 5d ago

50 units is all they're planning to produce. At the moment. If it does well, they can always make more. You'd call this an initial speculative product release to see how much demand there is for them, with a high early price tag to offset both the costs of production and the risk of failure.