Kohler has created a smart bathroom range that you’ll actually want
Personalized showers and baths, plus a warming toilet
So far CES 2018 has been awash with products that are touting voice assistant integration, and when we first heard that there was a smart bathroom range coming from American luxury bathroom manufacturer Kohler we were initially thought it was going to be some pretty unnecessary integration.
But we we wrong. The range includes a shower called DTV+ that can have a number of different voice-activated presets, so you can set exactly the water temperature, steam, lighting, and music.
So if your partner likes a mood-lit warm shower and you prefer a brisk cold shower with bright lights, you no longer have to physically adjust the settings every time.
This is obviously a luxury setup, but every shower we’ve ever used is like cracking a safe trying to get the temperature to exactly where you want it, so if it was able to remember the temperature you like, and automatically adjust to that, we’re in.
Alexa, draw me a bath
Talking of perfect water temperature, another of the Kohler Konnect offerings is a bath that is able to draw you a tub at your specified temperature and – even more impressively – stop pouring when the bath is full.
Moving out of the bathroom for a second, Kohler Konnect also has a voice-activated faucet called Sensate that can draw a set amount of water. In Kohler’s demonstration video it’s used to fill up a baby’s bottle, but could also be used for recipes that call for a set amount of water or refilling tanks on coffee machines that it’s usually laborious to stand and watch re-fill.
One of the items that we’re less sure of is the Verdera Voice Lighted Mirror, that allows you to use Amazon Alexa to adjust the lights around the mirror.
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What is useful about the mirror is that it is able to employ the full gamut of Alexa’s skills, meaning you can get a weather or traffic report while brushing your teeth, which admittedly we probably would end up using.
For the ultimate in luxury, the Numi intelligent toilet allows you to activate a foot warmer, a heated seat, a ‘personal cleansing bidet’, and even lighting and music to get the mood just right for your nightly, erm, ablutions.
For those not wanting to go quite so far with their bathroom setup, there is a slightly less luxe toilet on offer that offers the heated seat, and hands-free flushing, which will be a big draw for the hygiene-conscious toilet user.
At the moment all there aren’t set dates or prices on the range but expect them to be available later in 2018 and prepare yourself for luxury price tags. To see all of the items in action, check out the video from Kohler below:
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Via TechCrunch
Andrew London is a writer at Velocity Partners. Prior to Velocity Partners, he was a staff writer at Future plc.