[MUSIC]
So we are taking a look at the Kohler booth not in Las Vegas, as you might expect for CES.
We are actually looking at the future.
Kohler booth that they built inside their headquarters in Wisconsin and giving me a tour is Jonathan Bradley, the product lead and the head of the Smart Home Team.
Hi, Jonathan.
Thanks for showing me around.
How are you Andrew?
Welcome to Kohler ces 2021, booth, like you said, built right here in Kohler, Wisconsin, in one of our development centers.
Giving consumers that understanding of how these spaces come together with our connected products, with our traditional products and really intertwining design with technology.
This is our crew in matte black, which is a continuation of that touchless and connected line, right?
So we had sensate back at CES 2018, and we continue to expand that portfolio giving consumers The opportunity to have different designs and different finishes when it comes to connected and touchless faucets in the kitchen space.
Kinda cool.
And I like the touchless faucet and you said that's a new design right?
Yeah, new design continue to expand that line.
This is the kitchen.
This is the vignette we've built out, you know, giving consumers that understanding.
Have different design choices and how our products pair with other products that are in our portfolio and with products that are in our portfolio.
We're gonna keep on walking our way through this booth we have built the vignettes we have and this is coming into our totally touchless bathroom.
So this is really driving on that experience.
To give consumers the ability to interact with an entire space without touching it right?.
Touchless it's what people are looking for right now in their lives.
And over here we have our, our touchless flush toilets.
A simple wave of the hand in front of the trip lever actually activates the flow of water.
You never have to touch a trip lever unless you need to.
We are keen though on multimodal control.
So the notion of the touchless nature of that is great, but in the event that you wanna use that trip lever and it's manual state, you can still do that.
So giving consumers that choice of how they interact with products.
So continuing that touchless nature of the bathroom, you have the ability to simply wave your hand over this puck.
To start and stop the flow of water, we're going to bring a whole portfolio of touchless faucets to market you know some that have this puck, which is a really a retrofit DIY solution where you mount a control board underneath the counter, and then install the puck and we'll also launch complete solutions where the sensor is actually built into the top of the faucet.
So again, all about consumer choice and allowing them to build the space how they see fit.
Again with the touchless nature that you see here with these products.
So that puck, you could buy separately from the faucet and you could just install it onto like any faucet that I might have in my bathroom.
We're gonna design the PUC retrofit solution to pair with any single control Kohler faucet.
So if you have a single control faucet in your home, you'll be able to have that upgrade and built around the Kohler portfolio of faucets.
So the it'll range, it'll start about $200 and then it'll go up to about 500 depending on if you get that more Allah card solution that has the the sensor built into the faucet so just a $200 adder for the consumer.
Nice, and then if they're doing the whole remodel thing, they can upgrade and they can get the full smart faucet where we're waving our hands and it's turned on and off and bathroom magic, which in this case is an entirely appropriate thing and nothing else.
Exactly.
We're trying to give consumers as many options in terms of installation, whether it's DIY in this nature, all the way up to professional, depending on what their renovation looks like in your specific bathroom and what feature sets you want to incorporate.
Sounds cool.
Okay.
And I liked the idea.
I don't know.
I like the idea of touchless in the bathroom of being able to wave my hands and make things happen.
That seems neat.
Yeah, we're gonna sneak on over to the next one.
Okay, we have more bathrooms to look at.
That's exciting.
We're gonna go now into what we're calling the bathroom of today, right?
So the notion here is the ability to have these products now and start to build your experience.
This is the the fancy smart toilet, yes This is this is an eight which is a new entry into our intelligent toilet portfolio, so we have a whole portfolio of intelligent toilets and they're all focused on comfort, convenience and cleanliness, a Nate will be out
Our entry-level intelligent toilet but even though it's entry-level in terms of price, it doesn't sacrifice those features you saw.
It has the automatic opening.
It'll automatically close once we leave the room and it'll automatically flush.
So that again, touchless nature
Terms of toilet and experiences that has our stainless steel UV sanitized core proprietary but day one, it has the blow dryer, all those features trying to give consumers the Most Gracious toilet experience again at our new entry level price point with an eight.
So what does it do?
It opens automatically it flushes automatically it closes automatically and we're talking like an entry level gracious toilet experience.
So what does what does that mean?
What's the price So the price point will be $3,300.
So that'll be our lowest price intelligent toilet and it really pairs nicely with our more traditional twit offering as well.
So we have one piece to piece, gravity flush toilets that can be paired with DIY but AC to DIY heated seats, and then you start to step into the intelligent toilet offering where all of those features are actually integrated together.
So it's a complete solution.
That integrates those heating functions, the automatic functions, the day functions, all into one toilet, again to provide a gracious toilet and experience for the end consumer.
So 3000 plus for entry levels, those scenes.
Seems steep to me but I guess this is your it's still gonna be more on the luxury end because of the day because of the opening and closing and because of all the the touchless aspects we're still in the lap of luxury do we say with a, Toilet seat that might be too far, but gracious toileting experience for 3000 plus dollars.
Again, we're living on the leading edge of design and technology and that's what you see when you have these products come to life in terms of their feature set and their price point.
We're gonna take a trip to the third bathroom, where i'm gonna show you one of our flagship products.
[BLANK_AUDIO]
That is one fancy looking gadget.
So, what is this?
So this is our brand new stillness bath, and it's an addition to our bathing portfolio.
It's addition to our core connect portfolio.
But it really is a category all itself in terms of all the features and benefits that can offer consumers.
All focused around relaxation, wellness, recharging within the confines of your own home.
It's so important now where we you know, we used to go out to have a glass of wine or go to a movie, as our escape and relaxation.
Now we have to find ways to do that within the home and products like stillness, bath can help do that.
[BLANK_AUDIO]
So what you're looking at here again is the stillness bath.
It takes its design cues from Japanese soaking tub.
So this notion of an expansive, deep, relaxing soak.
It's 48 by 48 by a little over two feet deep, giving you that deep relaxing, so It'll actually launch in four different configurations will launch just a freestanding version of it, which complements and agilely.
Nice to our existing freestanding line of bathtubs.
And then we'll launch three upgraded experiences that incorporates technology, which really amplify our hydrotherapy portfolio.
So the first kind of technology experience is the integration of perfect Phil.
So this notion of.
Determining the depth of water as well as the temperature of water and then commanding that back via app or voice.
What you see here at the back is another upgrade to the experience that we're calling our experience tower.
That's what's delivering the fog as well as aroma therapy across the water of the bathtub again, promoting relaxation and recharging.
So again trying to intertwine different elements to create that relaxing experience for the consumer.
So speaking of perfect Phil, it looks super full.
This isn't making me nervous.
So that's where I was about to bring you to.
So do you see the water actually running over the edge?
That's the top of the experience.
This is what we call our infinity overflow.
So this notion of the water flowing over the edge of the water, creating this continuous motion of water.
The water actually runs down into those grates that you see down there gets recirculated, gets reheated and gets pumped back in.
So we're able to augment the experience by continually flowing the water over and giving that consumer that continuous motion of the water.
So, it's an experience we've had in the portfolio for some time with some different bass.
We have a bath called soak, which actually launched this experience, you know, a couple of years ago, but again, these grates are part of the system.
That's what allows the water to overflow get captured in those grates and then get filtered back into the tub.
So, really trying to promote that well being in relaxation in this space.
I like that it cycles the water instead of just like putting it down the drain.
That seems economical.
Very conscious of water conservation.
It's something we take to heart and we make products that use water throughout the home.
So being conscious of water is very important to.
To us.
Okay, so I'm gonna brace myself here for this question Jonathan.
It looks really fancy.
How much does that wonderful Japanese bath experience cost?
So again, there's four different elements to the experience.
The freestanding bath will launch in June of this year and it will start at $6,000 for the consumer.
That's the freestanding bath.
That complements our existing portfolio of freestanding bathroom.
Very nice in terms of design as well as price point.
As you go up the experience you can imagine the price also continues.
And this infinity overflow experience where you see this complete combination of products will be just under $16,000.
And again, that compliments very well in terms of our entire hydrotherapy portfolio and the different experiences we can bring to the consumer.
$16,000 that does still seem like a lot to me.
I mean, I guess you're sort of taking a vacation in your own bathroom.
So when it comes to that, maybe but I mean, my goodness $16,000 is how much my car costs Imagine the experiences were delivering a truly a spa like escape within the bathroom space, right?
With lighting, water, aroma therapy, all of these things really being the centerpiece of your bathroom and giving you the opportunity to retreat within your own home.
Where you might do other things where you might have gone and gotten a massage before you might have gone out to the movies like I was saying.
So really trying to create that experience for a consumer within their home and give them that, that escape in that retreat within the confines of their bathroom.
Are there other cool gadgets we have yet to see in here?
These are new ones for CES 2021.
Of course, we have the other products on display throughout the space as well.
Like we showed you Moxie,we showed you a DTV,we walked through and showed you the touchless kitchen faucet.
So all the products are on display here.
Interconnecting the experience again, really to similar to how a customer would see it on display in Las Vegas for a more traditional CES 2021.
One,
but you also have a fin leak detector right somewhere.
Yeah, let's let's we'll, we'll sneak back that way.
I'll show you the fin device.>> Okay.
So, underneath the cabinet here you'll see our new color whole home watermark.
monitor and it's really, you know, expanding on what we were doing in the kitchen with sensate and are connected and touchless faucets which we're monitoring water.
Again we're talking about our products consume water throughout the home we feel it's important to give consumers the insight into where and how much water they're using.
So we're announcing a partnership with Finn to co brand their products.
So there's an under counter option.
What you see underneath the counter here, that product actually mounts just to the back wall, it gets plugged in, and gets mounted in line with the hot and cold device.
That gives consumers the ability to track water usage at a top level throughout the entire home, as well as down to this specific fixture.
So how much water you're using, And your kitchen faucet versus your bathroom faucet.
There's also a version that is-
Sorry.
So that's one device that you could install under your kitchen sink, and it would monitor everything from every fixture.
It tracks your entire home water usage, every fixture.
Again, it could be your washing machine.
It could be your dishwasher.
It could be your shower.
It could be your toilet.
Every fixture throughout the home gets tracked.
Able to see that information again at a top level how much water using out the entire space as well as down to this specific fixture.
And is that DIY would I be able to install that myself?
Absolutely.
Completely DIY, that's on the beauties of the product.
You literally plug it in underneath the cabinet, you probably have a plug there for your garbage disposal, and then it gets mounted inline with the hot and cold line running into your kitchen faucet.
Then you plug it in, you connect it to your app and you're set up and ready to go.
And it starts tracking water usage throughout the entire home.
There's a more professional version that gets actually mounted in line with your water main.
And that one incorporates a shutoff valve.
So if the system detects a catastrophic leak, it'll actually shut off the water to your home.
That's definitely a professional installation again, what I showed you underneath the cabinet that's a DIY installation for the consumer.
Cool.
How much does the DIY1 cost?
So the DIY1 is about $300.
Great.
And then how much is the Pro?
Just over 500.
So still an affordable price point.
If you wanna have that automatic shutoff valve incorporated as well.
Great, so I'm a little jealous that bathtub looks like.
I mean, we could all use some relaxation right now and I would definitely like to just jump into that thing.
So maybe it's better that I'm not there in person to.
To keep me back from actually leaping into that cool Japanese spa style steaming bathtub you've got, so I'm impressed.
It's a cool looking CES booth with all kinds of bells and whistles.
Yeah, thank you for joining us.
Thank you for walking around the booth we built here in Kohler, Wisconsin, seeing the different bathrooms, seeing the kitchen Hope we can take away a little bit of learning from each one of the products and see colors investment in these products now in the future as smart home continues to grow and develop.
Well thank you very much for showing me around Jonathan and I appreciate you guys.
Bringing CES to you and and having this bowl tour.
You're very welcome.
Thanks for joining us.
Thanks for watching.
Please stay tuned to CNET for much more from CES.
