Bathroom Gadgets

Your bathroom may be home to vast quantities of water but the world's design minds have advanced enough that this doesn't mean your wet-room paradise has to be a technology vacuum. In fact, the pursuit of grooming gadgetry to help get you looking your best and feeling suitably relaxed in the most convenient way possible is escalating, making the jump from gimmickry to borderline essential. For those who like to keep their cleansing sanctuaries fairly au naturel, there are several easy ways to simply dip your toe in to tech, and Philips is pretty much a go-to brand, from shavers to teeth polishers. Its Sonicare electric toothbrushes get dentists' approval for their variety of timed brushing modes and all-round pearler performance first and foremost, but the likes of the DiamondClean (above) also boast both conductive glass and mini-USB charging. The handy travel carry case acts like a dock, while the multiple heads extends access to the whole family, and they can be parachuted into any washroom setup.  While still on a tiny tech tip, Philips also does a mean line in Hue light bulbs (above), its innovative illumination system controlled from your smartphone. It's the easiest way to get a dimmer in your bathroom – we'd personally steer clear of the ‘strobe' option, mind – with up to 50 long-lasting bulbs being linked up and directed remotely in simple plug-and-play fashion (if your bathroom is warehouse-sized), while the 80 per cent less energy use swells the do-good-o-meter as well as the tech count. Likewise, you can update the old-school bathroom scales with the sleek-looking Aria (above), part of US firm Fitbit's attempt to take on the ever-expanding global fitness market, which adds smartphone and PC connectivity, syncing weight details digitally to your computers over your wireless network. Different profiles can be set up for family members, charting daily fluctuations just by stepping on and off.  Indeed, the US is home to many a connected bathroom-tech find worth an import, from Kohler's Moxie K-9245-CP speaker-enabled shower head (above), which streams music and news into the shower from Bluetooth compatible devices, to the Inax Satis G-Type toilet, a Japan-inspired throne of auto seat openings, remote-controlled flushes and bidet flourishes. Thanks to Plasmacluster tech, odours are eradicated, too. But if you're wanting to truly overhaul your bathroom with cutting-edge yet integrated tech, Crosswater is the UK king and a name to become friendly with if you're keen to go all out. As well as boasting a line from interior designer Kelly Hoppen, its stylishly minimalist digital shower and bath options come with wireless control on the Solo (above), Duo and Elite ranges, meaning you can run your bath from the comfort of your duvet while checking water temperature in colour codes. That still not enough gadgetry for you? Keep your eyes on the Seraku Smart Wash Basin, an in-development mirror setup powered by Google's Android operating system that overlays a smartphone-style menu system on to your reflection and lets you control it with your hand. Breaking news, weather, even your weight – sent over from your Fitbit Aria, of course – can be viewed while you prepare for the day, with an IR sensor meaning you can waft the info around without having to get the semi-transparent glass smudgy, like a moisturiser-flecked Microsoft Kinect. It feels like the future to us. Words: Matt Hill Editor T3 Mag