Where’s My Water?

Have you ever come up on a faucet and thought – wait a second, where are the faucet handles? How does this work? Even after years and years of motion-sensor technology being embedded in faucets in malls and restaurants the world over? Designer Daniel David Sutherland sees this problem too. Convenience should be intuitive, right? In order to convey instantly the way this new faucet works, Sutherland placed a human hand impression right in the center of the bowl.

What to do? Place hand here.

In addition, the bulk of the faucet is hidden behind the bowl, preventing the user from focusing on it instead of the hand washing. Modern motion sensor faucets are confusing (Sutherland and I agree) because when the faucet is the center of attention, the user instantly thinks they’ve got to interact with it by touching it to turn it on.

In addition, this interesting feature: “By concealing the motion sensing componentry underneath the angular faucet, any concerns of unsolicited washroom surveillance (often associated with conventional sensing technologies) are also averted.” True! I used to think they were little cameras spying on my hands!

Paranoia averted.

NOTE: This project is a Reece Bathroom Innovations Award Finalist.

Designer: Daniel David Sutherland