The Oral B Pro 5000, Moxie shower and Serenity Mirror TV make bathrooms hi-tech

From interactive toilets to intelligent toothbrushes, bathroom technology keeps getting smarter.

The Oral-B Pro 5000 is a Bluetooth-equipped electric toothbrush that delivers personalised toothbrushing advice.

When we think of hi-tech zones in the home, most of us wouldn’t put the bathroom high on the list. But a century ago this vital room was a triumph of Victorian-era technology, transformed by sewerage, flush toilets, cisterns and gas-heated water.

In the 21st century, plenty of new technology is available for toilets, showers, toothbrushes, bathroom scales and so on. Even the rubber ducky can be electronic. But do you want these devices?

They may not be so popular in Australia yet, but ultra-modern bidet-style toilets are big business in Asia. Some offer built-in deodorising, self-cleaning, heated seats, massages, even hot air for your feet. Some will play your music. Some have remote controls; others, such as the popular Toto loos, have a readily accessible control panel.

Premium Totos, such as the Washlet and Neorest, include motion sensing, so the lid opens automatically when you approach. There is warm water for washing the nether regions, a blow-dryer, and a pre-mist to wet the bowl before use. You’ll pay up to $10,000 for the privilege.

If it’s true we spend on average more than 90 days on the loo during a lifetime, it may be worth it. Randall Cadby, manager of the Toto distributor in NSW, Mizudori Gallery, says sales have grown steadily since the showroom opened in Sydney almost a year ago.

Some Satis branded toilets can be flushed using a smartphone app. Some let you adjust the bidet spray intensity, water temperature and nozzle positions. Hand gestures can be used to open and close the seat on toilets such as the Kohler Numi.

If long, lingering showers are your thing, consider a multifunction steam shower. Models such as the Rainforest 78 offer a 16-jet hot tub, three shower heads, head-to-toe acupressure massage, steam box conditions, a foot massage system and emergency alarm. You can fit an LCD television, FM radio and a hands-free telephone inside the cubicle. An ozone sterilisation system cleans the system after use. But you’ll pay about $5000 and you’ll need to import it from the US.

Kohler’s Moxie shower head has a built-in Bluetooth speaker. It will play music from phones, tablets or computers placed up to 10m away. If you want a cheaper way of adding music to your shower routine, consider a water-resistant FM-AM radio. They typically cost $50 to $100 and hang on the shower nozzle. Some have clocks and even timers, if you worry about time floating away. Models include Philips’ digital AE2339 AM-FM radio, Sony’s ICF-80 splash-proof version and Dick Smith’s AM-FM radio. Then there’s the BasicXL Duck Bath Radio: switch it on by turning the duck’s head, and tune in stations by rotating the tail (about $200 from amazon.com).

Electric toothbrushes have morphed. Among the latest models, the Oral-B Pro 5000 ($260, pictured) has five cleaning modes, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and memory. It stores a daily chart of how many times you’ve brushed; you access this information through a smartphone app that guides you through brushing each quadrant of your mouth and tells you when time is up.

Wi-Fi bathroom scales record your weight day in and day out — again, you access this data with a smartphone app. Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale measures weight, fat mass, body mass index, heart rate and air quality, and graphs the results. It can handle multiple family members provided they have different weight ranges.

The scales also tell you today’s expected minimum and maximum temperature, and might remind you to take an umbrella.

You’ll pay about $240 for one of these.

If you feel compelled to watch TV in the bathroom, consider a set that’s embedded in a mirror — when switched off, it looks just like a regular mirror.

Brands include Stanford, Tote Vision and Serenity Mirror TV. But be prepared to pay several thousand dollars.