The Sands Expo at Kohler Booth: A Glimpse into the Future of Smart Homes

As I walked through the Sands Expo at the Kohler booth, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and anticipation. The room was filled with an array of smart home connected products, mainly centering around the kitchen and bathroom. Behind me, the Verdura voice-connected smart mirror stood tall, its sleek design and modern features catching my attention. I was fortunate enough to have Jesse Lamelle, the man behind the mirror, walk me through its capabilities and the theory behind a connected bathroom.

The Verdura Voice-Connected Smart Mirror: A Revolutionary Gadget for the Modern Bathroom

Jesse handed me the remote control, and I was eager to see what this smart mirror could do. As I spoke to it, I discovered that it had Amazon Alexa built right in. With a simple voice command, I could turn my lights on or off, adjust the lighting to a specific mode (such as "makeup mode" for when my hands were dirty), and even get a quick traffic or weather update. The mirror's light was adjustable, and I was impressed by its ability to pivot and point towards me with precision. But what really caught my attention was its ability to control other Kohler products in the bathroom.

Controlling the Bathroom with Voice Commands

As Jesse showed me the capabilities of the smart mirror, he explained that it was just one part of a larger family of products known as Kohler Connect. With this system, I could control various aspects of my bathroom experience using nothing but my voice. For instance, I could say "Alexa, start my relaxation shower," and the water would be heated to the perfect temperature, complete with a soothing massage experience. The mirror also allowed me to play music from Pandora or other streaming services, making it the perfect addition to any bathroom.

The Smart Mirror's Connection to the Kohler Connect App

But what really set this smart mirror apart was its connection to the Kohler Connect app. With this app, users could control various aspects of their bathroom experience, including temperature, water pressure, and even leak detection. Jesse explained that one of the features they had implemented in the app was water metering, which allowed users to monitor their water usage and reduce waste. This feature was especially useful for families with teenagers who might take long showers.

Availability and Pricing

As we chatted about the smart mirror's capabilities, I asked Jesse when it would be available to consumers. He informed me that it would hit stores in March, with a starting price of $9.99 for the smallest size and $12.99 for the largest size (which, coincidentally, was the 34-inch model we were standing behind). Behind us, I could see that the lighting on the mirror's wings was adjustable, allowing users to pivot the light towards them or adjust its angle.

A Dual Vanity Option: Is it Coming?

As Jesse and I talked about the smart mirror, he mentioned the possibility of a dual vanity option. He explained that Kohler was exploring ways to create two separate mirrors that could be placed side by side, perfect for couples who shared a bathroom. While this feature wasn't available at the time, Jesse reassured me that it was something they were considering.

Other Smart Home Products from Kohler

Before we parted ways, Jesse mentioned another smart home product from Kohler that I couldn't miss – the connected faucet in the kitchen. With this product, users could tell Alexa to "fill my coffee pot" and have it automatically fill the pot with the desired amount of water. The connection was seamless, and I was impressed by how intuitive the system was.

The Future of Smart Homes: Kohler's Vision

As our conversation came to a close, I asked Jesse about Kohler's vision for the future of smart homes. He shared that their goal was to create an ecosystem where every product in the home was connected and could be controlled using voice commands. With their range of products, from mirrors to faucets, they were making it possible for users to experience a seamless and intuitive connection between their bathroom and kitchen.

In conclusion, our time at the Sands Expo booth with Jesse Lamelle and Kohler Home was enlightening. We saw firsthand how smart home technology can transform our daily routines, making them more efficient, convenient, and enjoyable. Whether you're looking to upgrade your bathroom or kitchen experience, it's clear that Kohler is leading the way in this exciting field of innovation.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi this is J Crossman from Digital Trends we are here at the sands Expo at the Kohler booth they have a plethora of smart home connected products mainly centering around the kitchen and bathroom behind us you see the Verdura voice connected smart mirror and I'm here with Jesse lamelle who is going to walk us through what this mirror can do and kind of the theory and thoughts behind a connected bathroom and why consumer may want that all right so this is our video voice lighted mirror with Amazon Alexa built right in you talked to the mirror you can tell it to turn your lights on you can tell it to turn your lights to makeup mode because you're getting ready and your hands are dirty or what is I'm shaving I have shaving cream all over my hands and they're what I can just say turn my lights to 100% and I can do that quick inspection without having to make a mess of the countertop or the wall switch and keep my wife a little happier you can see the light behind us getting brighter so you can see how bright the light gets so you can actually do that inspection do your makeup do your hair you can also play music because I play Pandora and listen your favorite Pandora playlist you can get a quick traffic or weather update or what time is it is your getting ready in the morning and then with the mirror you can also control other Kohler products we have a whole Kohler connect family of products from our DTV plus showering system where you can control your shower and say Alexis start Jesse shower it's gonna turn on my shower exactly how I like it what temperature is the water what combination of rain head versus body sprays do I get whether it's a massaging experience at night I want to go take a relaxation shower and say Alexis start my relaxation shower it'll kick on cycle the water through to the right temperature everything so I go in it's exactly how I want it well it makes a hole in it since you're having a connected mirror because we are spending a lot of time in the bathroom as part of our daily routine getting ready I mean outside of just grabbing a quick bite to eat on my way to work I mean probably three-quarters of my morning has been in the bathroom before just popping out of the house so when does this smart mirror become available to the consumers and what's it going to retail for yeah it'll be available starting in March with the Amazon so embedded right in it will have Google coming later in 2018 the pricing it will be $9.99 for our smallest size and it goes up to $12.99 for our largest size and behind us which is what size is this 34 inch so it's our middle size you can see the lighting is actually adjustable on the wings so you can pivot the light point it towards you you can see the side profile of your face is there gonna be a dual vanity option at some point or just you take two of these and put them side by side them side by side great and so you have a variety of other products for a connected home around the connected kitchen one of the things that I thought was pretty interesting was the connected faucet in the kitchen where you can actually tell it to pour 2 cups of water and you don't actually have to have a measuring cup just say hey it's and it's voice connected - correct yeah so it's controlled by whatever platform you use if you have Google Apple Amazon whichever platform you prefer and you can just say fill my coffee pot it's automatically gonna fill the coffee pot to your preset if that's six cups of water for your coffee pot it'll fill that in your pot and so and also you know for anybody who's coming to visit there's a lot of different profiles you can set across the board for any of these people correctly yeah so you can program in different profiles for the showering experience you can program in a shower for yourself one for your wife one for the evening we have a controlled bathtub via voice so with little kids at home I program one in this size I'll actually start my kids bathroom routine and it's gonna fill the tub to a slightly smaller amount of water at a little bit colder temperature so that the kids more comfortable and I also one of the things that's part of their app is water metering so you can see how much water is consumed so if you have a teenage daughter who likes to take really long showers you could say hey let's cut down on the amount of water usage yeah yeah honey you're using a little too much water we got to talk about that and it's a really nice feature and also we get to the point where you can start you know leak detection some additional functionality that comes into that Kohler Connect app over time that's great once again I am Jay Crossman for Digital Trends I'm here with Jesse malphur Kohler home thanks for joining us and stay tuned for more coverage from CES you\n"