CHICAGO

Delta Faucet Company offered a peek behind the wizard’s curtain at the 2006 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS). Reinforcing its brand position as a leader in innovation, Delta displayed a collection of concept and newly released product technologies never before seen in the faucet industry. “Innovation Place,” a special destination within the booth, reflects the brand’s commitment to providing unique ideas, relevant products and fresh solutions that infuse cutting-edge technologies designed to add convenience, perform better and improve consumers’ daily experience with water.

“As a company, we have always taken pride in our product development leadership,” says Charlie McTargett, senior director of research and development, Delta. “Rather than cloak our new developments in secrecy, we created Innovation Place at KBIS to showcase what might be our next generation of firsts.”

The Innovation Concepts:

 

Voice Activation

Have you ever stood in front of your sink with hands covered in grease, food or other grime and wished you could just tell your faucet to send water? Delta’s Voice Activation area brought this thought to life, featuring concept faucets that take “hands-free” technology into a realm beyond current kitchen and bath electronics. Voice recognition technology allows the concepts to understand commands such as turning the faucet on and off and changing the temperature or water flow volume.

Water Delivery Concepts

Sometimes everyday tasks need a fresh new twist. For more than 15 years, Delta has enlisted a group of university students to create concepts focused on the delivery of water in unexpected ways. This year’s premise asked students to imagine innovative ways of bringing water to non-traditional spaces in the home. One student’s idea proposed a plant hanger with water plumbed overhead and activated by remote control. With the touch of a button or use of a timer the system would automatically “remember” to water or mist plants to the homeowner’s specifications. Another idea introduced the concept of an irrigated shoe brush that could easily clean dirt from shoes or boots. By asking university students to break the boundaries of traditional thinking, the Water Delivery Concepts area showcased an array of fresh designs and cool perspectives for everyday operations we often don’t think about.

Faucet Exchange

Have you ever walked into your bath and wished you could change the look of your faucets, but walked right back out when you thought of dealing with the hassle of removing the old faucet and changing the under sink plumbing? The Delta Faucet Exchange demonstrated, via a working model, that homeowners of the future may be able to change the style of their faucet by popping off the old one and popping on the new one – without ever going underneath the sink.

H₂Okinetics

The H₂Okinetics area featured exclusive shower technology from Delta that provides greater control over the showering experience by managing the water droplet size and velocity, spray coverage and thermal dynamics – all without moving parts. H₂Okinetic Technology’s™ water-conserving properties deliver the sensation of maximum allowed flow while using 36% less water than conventional systems. Already available in body sprays on products like the Monitor ®Jetted Shower Systems, new for 2006 is a Water-Efficient Showerhead also featuring this technology.

The Delta brand's heritage of innovation spans more than 50 years. “We were first to introduce space-age, patented Brilliance ® PVD finishing technology and the first to offer residential electronic faucets, just to name a couple of groundbreaking efforts at Delta,” says McTargett. “Plus, we have introduced unmatched innovative concepts like our Monitor® Jetted Shower Systems and the new MultiChoice™ Universal – one valve with three function options that allows homeowners to change their minds about the functionality, style and finish without ever going back in the wall. Innovation Place is a great way to present new technologies and get customers and consumers ready for the next generation of faucets and related solutions.”