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Show HN: Loodio – A Bathroom Privacy Device

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Re: Show HN: Loodio – A Bathroom Privacy Device

#62
post #15

Any reason for cancelling and hiding the first Kickstarter for what appears to be the same product from 2020? [1] [1]: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/loodio/loodio-bathroom-...

Hehe. Nice detective work. OP did say they moved to the office a couple of years ago, and his idea came about 13 months ago, so perhaps he jumped the gun on creating the project then withdrew it?

Love a good "caught red-handed" internet moment, but this one might be Occam's Razor.

Re: Show HN: Loodio – A Bathroom Privacy Device

#63

Relaxing music doesn't mask the noises enough I'm afraid you are hoping. It either needs to be very loud or have a different genre, like metal or dubstep to suppress umm... brown noise. I'm also not sure if announcing anyone I'm doing stuff in the bathroom is what I'd always want.

> Relaxing music doesn't mask the noises enough

Try listening to "The Great Mighty Poo" : https://youtu.be/Vdd4rBlsj2o

Re: Show HN: Loodio – A Bathroom Privacy Device

#64
post #15

Any reason for cancelling and hiding the first Kickstarter for what appears to be the same product from 2020? [1] [1]: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/loodio/loodio-bathroom-...

Accidental misclicked and launched previous version. (Kickstarter has a confusing UX)

It had FM-radio that didn't work and a crappy nokia 5110 display. We were "95% done" with that prototype, according to the consultants, and I was 60K in. I decided to pull the handbrake after realising that was not going to end well when I had no clue how to build the unit and those "5%" would probably cost me another 100% if you know what I mean.

I have since needed to learn how to design PCBs and mechanical design, redesigned everything from scratch and now ready to sell some units. Super stressful period.

Re: Show HN: Loodio – A Bathroom Privacy Device

#65
post #16

Correct me if I'm wrong, but won't the white noise near the source mostly just affect the perception of sounds for the person in the toilet, and less so for the people outside? Kind of like if you're doing the dishes and have the water running, people can hear you just fine, but you can't hear anything that's said to you. I know in psychologists' offices they often have the white noise device in the waiting room for…

It does block all sounds and it's not very loud either. It's actually a waterfall sound I recorded on a vacation. We have been using it for 3 years now and you can now relax in our office bathroom. Sometimes I remove the unit for testing stuff and people get very annoyed, haha.

Re: Show HN: Loodio – A Bathroom Privacy Device

#66

Instead of white-noise or music, why not play the sounds of people using the bathroom? You know like, peeing, pooping, farting, chatter, moans and groans. This way our own noises become indiscernible from the background noise.

Great SaaS opportunity

Clearly the sounds need to be generated by AI.

Re: Show HN: Loodio – A Bathroom Privacy Device

#67

Relaxing music doesn't mask the noises enough I'm afraid you are hoping. It either needs to be very loud or have a different genre, like metal or dubstep to suppress umm... brown noise. I'm also not sure if announcing anyone I'm doing stuff in the bathroom is what I'd always want.

It also plays a waterfall sound simultaneously that somehow cancels out the other sound. Have had a prototype running for 3 years that's done the job well. No more tap water waste and embarrassing moments.

Re: Show HN: Loodio – A Bathroom Privacy Device

#69
post #56
post #7

Active noise cancellation would make for much more amusing how-to videos.

Active noise cancellation doesn't work with speakers in a room.

Passive bass traps then. A bit of googling suggests 200-400Hz is the range they are trying to help with.

Re: Show HN: Loodio – A Bathroom Privacy Device

#70

Something that sits in a bathroom is likely to need regular cleaning. What's the plan for being able to wash this thing? It seems to have a bunch of open spots for water to seep into the electronics.

Plan is to make it fully water resistant at a later point.
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