Korean Scientist Who Developed Toilet That Takes Photos of Urine and Feces Wins Ig Nobel Prize

Dr. Seungmin Park of Stanford University School of Medicine
5th Korean to Receive Ig Nobel Prize

Dr. Seungmin Park of Stanford University School of Medicine in the United States is posing in a similar posture in front of Rodin's "The Thinker" sculpture on campus, with a toilet placed in front of it. [Image source=Screenshot from Dr. Seungmin Park's SNS]

A Korean scientist who developed a smart toilet that diagnoses diseases by taking photos of urine and feces received the Ig Nobel Prize.

The American Harvard University science humor magazine AIR (Annals of Improbable Research) held the 33rd Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University on the 14th (local time). Awards were given in 10 fields including chemistry, geology, literature, mechanical engineering, and public health. Among them, Dr. Seungmin Park, a Korean affiliated with Stanford University School of Medicine, was selected as the winner in the public health category.

AIR introduced Dr. Park as "the inventor of the 'Stanford Toilet,' a device that uses various technologies such as dipstick tests for urine analysis, a computer imaging system for stool analysis, an anal-print sensor linked with an identification camera, and communication links to rapidly analyze and monitor human excrement."

The toilet he invented takes photos of urine and feces with a built-in camera and then analyzes them. It can detect signs of cancer or irritable bowel syndrome from stool shape and check for glucose or red blood cells in urine. Also, just like fingerprints, the shape of the anus varies from person to person, enabling long-term monitoring even when multiple people use the same toilet.

Dr. Park graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in physics and earned a Ph.D. in applied physics from Cornell University in the United States. He published his smart toilet research in 2020 in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Regarding receiving the Ig Nobel Prize, Dr. Park said, "It is a humbling experience that serves as a tribute to researchers, mentors, and dreamers who seek answers in unconventional places," and emphasized, "Today, people may laugh at the idea of a smart healthcare toilet, but this (Ig Nobel Prize) award clearly shows the great potential to positively impact health even in the most personal moments."

This year’s Ig Nobel Prize in chemistry and geology was awarded to Professor Jan Zalasiewicz of the University of Leicester in the UK, who explained why many scientists like to lick rocks, and the medicine prize went to scientists who analyzed corpses to check if the number of nose hairs in both nostrils is the same.

Ig Nobel Prize winners receive a trophy along with a 10 trillion Zimbabwe dollar banknote issued during Zimbabwe’s early 2000s hyperinflation as prize money. This banknote is no longer in circulation and is traded as a collectible for about 10,000 to 20,000 Korean won.

Created as a parody of the Nobel Prize, the Ig Nobel Prize is awarded annually by AIR to research teams that conduct amusing and ingenious scientific research before the Nobel Prize announcements. So far, four Koreans have received the Ig Nobel Prize. In 1999, Kwon Hyuk-ho of FnC Kolon received the environmental protection award for inventing a scented suit, followed by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon receiving the economics award in 2000 for organizing a large-scale mass wedding.

Also, in 1992, Pastor Lee Jang-rim of the Dami Mission, who advocated the rapture theory, along with five other doomsday prophets, repeatedly predicted the end of humanity incorrectly and received the Ig Nobel mathematics award in 2011. In 2017, Han Ji-won received the fluid dynamics award for studying the phenomenon of spilling coffee while carrying a coffee cup.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.