Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Search Challenge (4/23/15): Which button....

When I travel... 

I sometimes find remarkable things.  Sometimes these remarkable things require a bit of research to understand.  

In today's example, this morning I needed to use the following device: 



which has the following really interesting user interface: 



Here's a link to a higher-res version of this image.

So there I am, trying to use this rather... personal... interface. 

And this leads to this week's Challenge: 

1.  There are a lot of buttons here... I want to be sure I don't push the wrong button!  Can you figure out which button changes the temperature of the seat?  Yes, that's an option here.  A friend told me so--but... which one changes the temperature?  
2.  Extra credit: What do the other buttons do? 

Be sure to tell us HOW you figured this one out.  Inquiring minds want to know! 

Search on! 

21 comments:

  1. …thought technology was suppose to make things simpler…
    oddly enough, off a French site after using image search… washlet was a useful term… there are many variations - no real luck using the Panasonic model number you provided…
    picture
    site
    also found:
    Korean
    Korean 2
    Japan - advanced - they have ♬♪ & 大and小On the left: ooki - big. On the right: chiisai – little. Use accordingly
    plastic wrap can be your educational friend

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  2. Google the model number panasonic dl-sh25hk. Get a Youtube video that refers to it as DL_EAX11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhJwYgjcd3w

    Companies often have different model numbers in dofferent countries for the same product. Google the new model number and find the Panasonic page: http://ctlg.panasonic.com/jp/toilet/toilet-tank/DL-EAX11.html

    Download the product manual, and turn to page 6: http://dl-ctlg.panasonic.com/jp/manual/p_/p_dl_eax11_21_31_p_r3.pdf

    Answer to your question:

    1. The upper left button in the group of four to the right controls water temperature.

    2. In order fro, left to right, top to bottom:

    stop;
    bum wash;
    powerful wash, then below "rhythmic" or pulsating wash;
    Bidet (spray toward the front);
    weaker and stronger water pressure;
    air dry;
    water temperature, below it seat temperature;
    power saving function, below it 8-hour timer.

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  3. Agh... _Seat_ temperature. My answer to 1. should of course be "lower left in the rightmost group of four". In my weak defence, water temperature is more important :)

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  4. Close but not quite there http://img04.taobaocdn.com/bao/uploaded/i4/726511963/T2Pm5aXcXbXXXXXXXX_!!726511963.jpg
    Query [panasonic smart toilet dl series]

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  5. Well thanks to my watching House Hunters International I had some background knowledge that this was a toilet seat from Japan. So we first did a search for Japanese toilet seat controls the second result led us to the Surviving in Japan How to use an electronic toilet but that article didn't talk about the temperature button. But it describes what the other buttons do. This was a really good helpful article - http://www.survivingnjapan.com/2013/07/how-to-use-electronic-japanese-toilet.html So we now know how to get sounds, what level water spray and many other helpful tips! To find the temperature control symbol we add those words to our search query and finally found an article that showed the symbol http://www.japlanning.com/blog/guide-to-everyday-japan-toilets. We are still having trouble finding a picture that is an exact match so we aren't finding symbol that we can say is definitely for temperature (and is it water temperature or seat temperature we are looking for?). We found the article on Wikipedia on Japanese toilets that has a picture of the control unit but just can't match up symbols. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilets_in_Japan#/media/File:Modern_japanese_toilet.jpg We will keep on trying! Got to the panasonic site and even found a similar toilet for sale on Amazon but just can't match up symbols!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's Korean writing not Japanese.

      Delete
  6. Good day, Dr. Russell, fellow SearchResearchers


    Searched:

    I am sure this Challenge is easy to solve in real life than searching. With Google Translate, just a picture and it is solved.

    Searching is so much fun and once again finding such new things. Great searching Remmij.

    I thought that as Remmij mentions with the model number the answer will come fast.

    Then tried in Panasonic Korean site with the model number and Google Translate. Not users manual

    [panasonic washlet toilet]
    [panasonic washlet toilet seat buttons]

    Searching in images found Ramada Plaza has these toilets.

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  7. Went to Google translate and put in temperature and this is the symbol. 温度 but not sure which one it is on the toilet control.

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  8. I recognised the characters as Korean so I googled 'korean toilet instructions' and found a blog http://mchangsp.blogspot.co.nz/2011/02/south-korean-toilet-travellers-guide.html

    Comparing the characters in the blog picture with yours, I got:
    First button with red square: stop
    Next button: Wash (and the two small green ones are probably wash temp - hard to see)
    Next button with red characters: Bidet
    Two small grey buttons: dry pressure
    Next biggish button: Dry
    Four small buttons at right: top left- move nozzle front and back
    top right water pressure
    bottom left???
    bottom right OFF ???

    Pam
    NZ

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  9. Your Image adding "dl sh25hk " and then Google Translate.

    Toilet specifications

    Also tried searching in Google Korea. Searched for User's Manual Database and Text recognition in images.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Steps taken in search
    Google Korean Domain
    Google Translate
    파나소닉 스마트 화장실 [panasonic smart toilet]
    Google Search in .kr
    Result Danawa http://prod.danawa.com/info/?pcode=432427
    Google Translate Page
    Product Panasonic DL-SH25HK (installation fee included)

    Translation only partial and image not clear enough. Next step will be to find manual/brochure from Danawa

    Oh what hotel? I did check CHI list & based on your run I think I know which one but I won’t pursue. :`)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Check out the image today-- that should be clear enough to "read"

      Delete
  11. knowing that they are frequently on the cutting edge of such things, i did check their work…
    think it had a taptic engine & haptic feedback technology…in addition to revolutionary posterior BTU thermal control.

    unfortunately, this appears to be only an hypothetical imagining… but the SINGLE button was intriguing (although an iPhone was required)
    and the early market research indicated that the $1,117,000 price of the platinum/titanium/rhodium-scandium alloy model might encounter consumer resistance,
    especially since availability was restricted to one per household/GPS location… will continue to Watch…
    but would still have high lust factor - not to mention the impression it would leave…

    ReplyDelete
  12. OK I am all signed in and will hit Publish


    A great start was [japanese electronic toilet] which at the top of the listings is

    http://www.survivingnjapan.com/2013/07/how-to-use-electronic-japanese-toilet.html

    Has many interfaces and a table of most of the kanji characters and english translations found on the user interfaces.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilets_in_Japan
    The seat-heating feature is very common, found even on toilets that lack the bidet features. As most Japanese homes lack central heating – instead using space heating – the bathroom may be only a few degrees above freezing in the winter Also, the latest models store the times when the toilet is used and have a power-saving mode that warms the toilet seat only during times when the toilet is likely to be used based on historic usage patterns

    I could not make out the exact model details but from looking at other Panasonic models instruction sheet eg http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/DLS10AR.pdf I think the temp adjuster is at the proximal end and likely has four settings: OFF (which is readable on your image) and 90f and 97f and 100f.

    From the distal end: The red/orange square is STOP; next in is the bum washer with buttons for changing pressure. Next in the bidet function with temp and pressure; Next is the blow-dry button. And lastly the seat warmer buttons.

    There is a similar panel at

    http://www.neosoho.com.tw/33298292452810728020--26234330212423120415.html

    This one has lots of luxury features, 6 speed auto trans, 4 wheel disc brakes, power deodorizer, musak, flushing noise maker and some other things. The massage unit keeps your legs and rear end from going numb over the hours.

    Great topic.

    jon

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  13. Folks -- It's worth noticing that I upgraded the image for the toilet UI. Take a look at the image I posted today (Thursday, April 23, 2015).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dan Loo, (perhaps your Pacific Rim moniker?) thanks for the enhanced/hi-res image - that is much easier to read…still hard to decipher —
      but now I'm a bit puzzled by some of the wear&tear a few of the buttons are exhibiting - emphatic usage?
      also noticed the button @ the leading edge - that I thought was a STOP button - is actually a RESET button on your example… of dubious functionality… over used?
      that was hard to make out in lower-res image…
      very inscrutable and needs further contemplation… must повторный набор
      the enhanced version
      "The problem is, "peregruzka" doesn't mean reset. It means overcharged, or overloaded." which still could apply in this context

      Delete
  14. Ok I didn’t think I would be able to do the handwritten translation so I was avoiding doing it. For the most part it was quite easy. From the left button moving right here are the translations.

    1 Button 정지 Stop
    2 Button 세정 Washing
    3a Button 리듬 Rhythm
    3b Button 파워 Power
    4 Button 비 데 Bidet
    5a Button 약 About (?)
    5b Button 강 River (?)
    6 Button 건 조 Drying
    7a Button 온수 Heat (ANSWER)
    7b Button 변좌 Toilet Seat
    7c Button 절전 Sleep

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    Replies
    1. was not aware of this, it (the handwriting input) does seem to work well - thanks RoseM…
      handwriting
      Dan, could you talk a bit about translating images using a Mac? does the Translate app vary from the browser version?… may not be phrasing the question correctly…
      images - does this only work with mobile devices or can it work on a laptop or desktop?
      could you have just used the image translate app to decode the loo panel?

      Delete
    2. I'm impressed that you were able to get all of these with just handwriting into Google Translate. Excellent job!

      Delete
  15. I should have explained that I used Google translate Korean and then used the handwritten function for the translation. Today I realized I missed an even simpler way of doing the translation. Using my tablet I brought up the toilet control arm image. Then using my phone I used the Google Translate camera to scan each button and translate to English. I didn't achieve good results but perhaps scanning the actual control arm would work fine. At least it would be faster and doable on sight.

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  16. Well it helps to know what language! Because someone mentioned Korean which Anne and I didn't consider we went back and did a search for -Korean toilet seat controls- which had several articles but this one had a nice listing of all the controls http://www.korea4expats.com/article-bidet-toilet-korean-english-translation.html
    Who knew?

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