High-Tech Sink Cleans Your Smartphone While You Wash Your Hands

A video of a high-tech sink that comes with a special slot for cleaning your smartphone as you wash your hands has been getting a lot of attention on social media.

Sadly there isn’t much context to go with this viral TikTok clip originally posted by @kensei_prochari_, but then again, the video itself is pretty self explanatory. Here we have what looks like a fancy sink that features a thin slot where users can place their smartphones while they wash their hands. But that slot is more than just a holder; it “sucks” the phone inside where it proceeds to purge any and all viruses and bacteria by exposing the handheld to UV rays. When you’re done washing your hands, the cleaned smartphone is pushed out through the same slot.

Although the clip doesn’t mention the location where it was filmed, I have a feeling it’s in Japan. Where else would you expect to find something like this, as well as people comfortable enough with technology to actually use it? To be honest, I wouldn’t put my iPhone 12 Pro (I wish!) in what looks like a public toilet sink. What if the thing malfunctions and fails to eject the phone when I’m done washing my hands? Or worse, what if it somehow damages it during the cleaning process?

I won’t deny that having your smartphone cleaned as you wash your hands makes a lot of sense, after all what’s the point of thoroughly cleaning your hands, if you’re just going to touch that germ-infested handheld right after. Still, I don’t see a lot of people using this high-tech sink anytime soon.