Happiness in urine: These startups at CES want to take a closer look at your waste

You wait years for a urinalysis company and then they all hit their flow all at once. One of the notable trends at this year’s CES in Las Vegas was that the quantified self movement is gaining momentum. The new generation of start-ups are no longer satisfied with just measuring the heart rate, number of steps and EKG on the wrist, but are approaching a complete medical analysis of their users.

Here are a few to look out for:

Withings

Withings U-Scan. Image author: Withings.

Medical hardware company Withings released the U-Scan in Europe this week and announced that it is working with the FDA to ensure a US launch as well. The product uses a hands-free system that can take up to three months of measurements with a single cartridge.

olive

Once you get over the nervousness of having so many cameras near your junk, Olive can hit the road and analyze your pee on the fly. Image credit: Haje Kamps / Root Devices

Israeli startup Olive recently raised $10 million in funding and promises to use only optics to analyze urine. The company uses a special toilet seat, no tapes or additional accessories are required. It is initially aimed at nursing homes and vulnerable populations, but hopes to find a user base in many healthcare sectors.

Vivoo

The Vivoo solution measures the strip and then returns it for optical analysis. No touching required. Image author: Haje Kamps / Root Devices

Vivoo has long been making at-home urine test strips, and has shown off the next iteration of its smart toilet business. It is aimed at the residential care, senior and healthcare markets. It provides a convenient alternative for users who have difficulty performing urine testing with manual urine strips.

One can only imagine that he felt a little embarrassed at his booth with his “world’s first” marketing messages. Especially given that Vivoo’s booth was right next to Withing’s, showing off how it beat the “world’s first” on the market.

The product is a prototype with a wider introduction in the not so distant future. The company raised $6 million in Series A funding in June 2021. The round was led by Draper Associates.

Special Zone Master

Well, that’s reassuring. Image author: SZM

Don’t worry, it wasn’t all urine at CES this year. We also found a SZM – Special Zone Master – who promises to do a “visual analysis” of yours another favorite body waste – poop. The company promises to analyze the shapes and colors of stools, record the time and frequency of bowel movements, and detect the presence of blood.

“Only by examining the mud in more detail can we detect the first signs of health problems and take action before it’s too late,” the company said in its marketing materials. We were curious to find out more, but the company’s founders were nowhere to be seen – probably taking a well-deserved bathroom break. It wasn’t entirely clear how far along the Korean startup was in bringing its technology to a toilet bowl near you.