Innovation in Japan: McDonald's installs phone cleaning devices. Kills 99.9% of germs within 30 seconds while customers wash their hands - VIDEO

Technology@lemmy.world – 210 points – 11 months ago

McDonald’s installs phone cleaning devices.

The systems operate on the basis of ultraviolet technology.

These systems, powered by ultraviolet technology, destroy up to 99.9% of germs within 30 seconds while customers wash their hands.

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So im no tech expert but a couple issues i see off the bat:

relying on a mechanism to pull in and spit out your phone seems ripe for a failure where the phone gets jammed/caught/sterliser breaks mid-operation and your phone is stuck. Maybe instead have a shelf that you put you phone on and then a cover just swings/drops over it but you can physically just lift the cover up to remove the phone.
entry slot is in the surface of the bench, directly next to the sink, where any overflow or splashing will have water drop directly down into steriliser and phone.
having a device in a public place (with no cameras, because bathroom) is a perfect place for someone malicious to affix a NFC (or similar tech) scanner to read data from/send data to your phone.

For every country I’ve lived in outside of Japan, I think these would be valid concerns.

Was going to say, it seems as though people in Japan, just use tech differently.

I found that people are more group-minded in Japan. Television and schools have less emphasis on direct punishment (like getting removed from the classroom and receiving detention), and a greater one on humiliation (like getting singled out by your teacher for something to be laughed at by your classmates).

In the west, comedians who say/do really naughty things that would get them in trouble get a lot of laughs because of its absurdity (and they risk getting in trouble). You often see a lot of disclaiming in western standup. In Japan, it’s the comedians who act in humiliating ways that get more laughs. Interestingly enough, you frequently see angry tantrums as something to laugh at. So if you want to be a funny person, you don’t break things, you do something to humiliate yourself. Otherwise, if you lash out in anger for any reason, you might get laughed at.

So with regards to vandalizing a sanitation machine in a McDonalds, unless it’s a specific trend on TikTok, I just don’t think a vandal would get much out of it.

IT guy here, the NFC thing isn't really a concern (NFC doesn't work that way) or for that matter, any other wireless technology, as it'll need to authenticate with your phone somehow. If you can somehow simply scan data from a phone without any form of authentication, that would be a massive security hole - something that would be patched by the vendors real quick. Also, if something like that were possible then the TSA/FBI wouldn't have any issues pulling data from locked phones. Think of all the times you've had to put your phone thru the xray machines at the airports. Also see the case of FBI vs Apple for instance.

The other issues you've mentioned are valid though. Heck my Galaxy Fold won't even fit in that slot.

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. I just thought that i can use contactless pay with my phone if its unlocked just by tapping the eftpos machine but i suppose people wouldnt be putting their phones in there unlocked generally.