It's not the classiest of topics, but here I go touching on the taboo — toilets. We all visit the bathroom several times a day, and what a relief that we do! The experience can conjure a curious mix of emotions: pleasure, pain, anxiety, boredom, impatience, pride. Japan famously produces toilets with booty heating, cleaning, and drying functions, as well as noise-disguising features and different flushing options. The toilet-going experience really has been elevated, both literally and figuratively from the days when the humble squatter ruled. Here is a look at gadgets that amuse and come in handy when nature calls.

There are heaps of smartphone apps available to help with all manner of toilet use: finding a public one, potty training little ones, plus all the games and SNS that people use while on the throne. Shockingly, there have actually been links made between hemorrhoids and smartphone use in the loo! Toylets, by Japanese game-console-maker Sega (toylets.sega.jp/), is a special game that helps urinal users to hit their mark with a bit of cute animation and healthy competition. The system is comprised of a small target with pressure measuring sensors that is mounted in the urinal and a small display mounted at eye level that shows a player's progress. There are different Toylets games available that can have a user using their "stream" to interact with the cute anime-like characters on the screen or competing against the previous player by measuring accuracy and volume. The system has apparently been installed in public bathrooms all over Japan for a few years now; I don't often wander into places with urinals so I wouldn't know. For those keen to play pee games all the time, and who have a urinal, Sega has just released a consumer version. Seems like a handy aid for potty training and for those who live with careless tinklers. The system retails for ¥140,000 and the games go for ¥10,000 each, making you wonder if someone's pulling the proverbial.

If the learning curve on Toylets is proving too steep, how about having a robot ready nearby to clean up any spills. The maker is iRobot, producer of military drones and a line of cleaning robots for the general consumer market, including the Roomba vacuum-cleaning robot. They have just released a new version of their Scooba floor-washing robot, the Scooba 390 (bit.ly/LgOOqH) The product page declares that by "using a four-stage cleaning process, Scooba preps, washes, scrubs and squeegees your floor for you, removing up to 98 percent of common household bacteria." It sounds like a heavenly product that is perhaps even worth the $500 price tag.