Looking back upon the several thousand years of recorded human history, the past century has seen our kind propelled to new heights of technological achievement. We now live longer lives and enjoy a quality of life unparalleled in the past. The average person can now painlessly communicate with people on the other side of the world without any bother. The world is a very digital place these days, and most of us spend all day with a screen, whether on the desk in front of us or in our jeans front pocket.
So why, one begs the question, do we have so few obvious gadgets in our bathrooms? After all, television screens in kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms, family rooms, and even outside are not uncommon nor reserved for the affluent and wifi-equipped refrigerators have been around for years. Until recently, bathroom fixture makers seem to have been hesitant to plug in screens to our remaining sanctuary and electronic equipment has not historically had a good relationship with water. Now that it has become technologically and economically feasible, we are finally seeing the emergence of a new generation of bathrooms.
Selling its USA-made wares through a network of distributors, Brooklyn-based Watermark Designs is a brand that keeps a low profile. The company produces high end fixtures and turned heads when its custom design division Watermark ID announced the Luxury Shower System (LSS) and brought the company the attention and imagination of bloggers and designers everywhere. As Styleture reported last month, the LSS won a Green GOOD DESIGN Award, recognizing the conservation benefits of the system which tracks water usage. In addition to these “Green Statistics”, the screen also controls the water temperature, spray, even music and lighting. It makes you wonder if the designers should have included an incentive to leave the bathroom, we certainly could spend all day in this shower.
While on the topic of fancy showers, we must make mention of ThermaSol’s Solitude mobile application, available on Apple and Android operating systems. TalkSpas recently profiled the groundbreaking app which controls the settings of the shower using the home wifi connection. One may also set playlists and videos, adjust the settings, and initiate the shower without even getting out of bed. ThermaSol was the first residential steam shower company and this app is their latest advancement that challenges their competitors.
Wildly popular at this years Dwell on Design Conference in Los Angeles, Graff Faucets has drawn lots of attention to its Ametis collection of products by industrial designer Davide Oppizzi. The Ametis faucet was very popular when we visited their booth at Dwell, with booth visitors crowding around to play around with the LED-lit indicator which fades between red and blue with the water temperature. The fixture looked striking in its black and white matte finishes and is available basin or wall mounted.
Okay so it isn’t electronic and it doesn’t have a home entertainment system built in, but we had to include one of our favorite recipients of the Green GOOD Design Awards this year. Caroma is known for their extensive line of water-conserving faucets and toilets but we did not see this coming. The Profile Smart toilet combines an efficient faucet with an efficient toilet for a single space-saving product. Excess water from the sink drains into the tank which is then used to flush the toilet, a kind of built-in graywater system. We can’t wait to see Caroma’s future iterations of this product as it holds so much potential for water conservation.
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