Hand-dryers in the restrooms of the world always leave a messy puddle underneath the devices and hands are not necessarily dried at the end of the timed session. Not until I arrived in Japan did I finally encounter these effective hand dryers. The Mitsubishi models (on the lower pictures, they are the first two pictures on the left) are more ubiquitous than the more recent Toto model (both at the upper and at the lower pictures, they are the ones on the right).
The device is usually attached to a wall, at the waist level (usually Japanese people's waist level). One activates the unit by inserting both hands downward into the mouth of the device, with the palm and back parallel to the unit. The machine turns on, and gusts of wind come from both directions of the hand. As one slowly pulls back the hands, s/he will find them dry.
And what happens to the water? It all dripped onto the bottom of the device and contained within it. No mess. Another advantage: there is no contact between the device and your hands (unless you have a huge-sized hands), which means minimal or zero chance of germ transmission.
For more information:
Mitsubishi Hand Dryer
