4 New Bathroom Technologies for Smart Homes

Motion-sensor mirrors are the strongest rivals to steam-resistant mirrors, a recent discovery in innovative bathrooms. Alongside mirrors that illuminate as you enter and adjust for day or night, there are models that connect to your phone via Bluetooth and play audio through built-in speakers. Is the race over? Not yet. Futuristic bathrooms are preparing for mirrors that use skin-analysis technology. From wrinkles to red spots, these models provide information about your skin type and how to improve it. Now head to your bathroom and ask: “Mirror, mirror, tell me, which is the most talented of them all?”

We are all now familiar with some of the technological work global brands are doing to improve toilet comfort, and some of it is certainly intriguing. Newly developed toilets are taking bathroom technology to another level with unusual functions. Next-generation designs with sound-activated lids, lighting, heated-seat settings and customisable water flow, all controllable through a smartphone app, symbolise the personalised bathroom. A step beyond these are models that can analyse human waste against health indicators.

It is not quite around the corner, but it is not far away either. Presented at the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show in the USA, this innovative concept combines shampoo and soap with the water flow in predetermined amounts and with even distribution. Another aspect of product integration involves aromatherapy additions that bring relaxing scents to everything from the shower to the towel warmer. Integrated directly into a steam bath, this technology adds pleasant fragrances to each steam session. It can also be incorporated into towel warmers, giving you towels that are not only warm but infused with aromatherapy scents.

Developing products that benefit nature and household budgets is no longer an option in design; it is a responsibility. Today, brands with this awareness are seeing their investments and efforts in technology rewarded, as more people choose smart products that take account of the environment, personal health and household finances. Taps, mixers and showerheads that offer reduced water flow and digital temperature control, infrared sensors that activate without touch and switch off when hands are no longer detected, timed shower settings, and even programmable intervals for activities such as brushing teeth are becoming basic expectations, particularly among a new generation accustomed to communication technology.