Literary Restrooms Help Users Catch Up on Their Reading

Music is sometimes heard in public restrooms, but how about hearing an audiobook from classic authors when heeding the call of nature? Geometry Singapore for Storytel designed book-themed portable potties that allow users to hear portions of classic novels such as “Moby Dick” and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” Campaign Asia reports.  

These literary restrooms are part of Storytel’s “Looterature” project which promotes the company’s streaming audio service. The four units are decorated for a specific novel and feature a speaker system “that plays an audiobook trailer for users as they do their business.” Individuals scan a QR code to listen and receive a 30-day free trial offer.

Company officials say in the past, it was common practice to bring a newspaper or magazine to toilet, but today many people bring their mobile phones for binge-watching, shopping, gaming, social media, and texting. Storytel wanted “to help literature reclaim its place with an ‘unexpected’ new media.”

The four toilets were debuted at an outdoor event in Singapore in February. Storytel is exploring future opportunities to deploy them once mass gatherings can happen again.