Intelligent faucet
The Ripple Faucet offers a new way to interact with water. Drawing inspiration from the ripples on the water’s surface, the faucet creates a strong visual relationship with the water flow and temperature. The faucet’s visual system is composed of the ripple interface surface, two channels from which water flows, and a metal ball that sits on top of the rippled surface and which is used to control the faucet.
The movement of the ball controls the flow and the temperature: moving away from the center increases flow, and moving around the circles controls the temperature. LEDs under the ripple surface are lit with intensity and color according to the flow and water temperature to provide the user with additional visual feedback. Under the ripple surface, there is an array of sensors and electromagnets that provide tactile feedback to the user as they move the ball to discrete points on the surface.
The Ripple Faucet is a result of collaboration between Smith Newnam, an industrial designer based in North Carolina, and Shimon Shmueli, a partner with Touch360, a product design and innovation consultancy.
Contact: Smith Newnam, Wilmington, NC, USA.
For more information, see Transmaterial 3: A Catalog of Materials that Redefine our Physical Environment
