Having worked with Aqualisa's research and technology teams to design the world's first digital shower (Quartz), as well as its sophisticated successor (Axis), Seymourpowell have now designed the next step in the evolution of the digital shower for long-term client and digital market pioneer Aqualisa. Available to customers from Autumn 2007, the ilux Digital allows perfect pre-sets of both temperature and water flow for up to four people from a single controller. The technology is not only applicable to showers this time around, but also to baths.
ilux Digital will join Aqualisa's best-selling and award-winning Quartz and Axis systems in Aqualisa's digital range, demonstrating the same commitments to consumer-focused benefits, quality and flexibility. As with all Aqualisa's digital products, the success of ilux will also depend in large part on the popularity of this technology with installers, who were the first to seize on the benefits of ease of installation and the radical shortening of installation time, compared to non-digital showers. It will be available to customers from Autumn 2007.
The ilux Digital shower system comes in two different configurations: exposed, where the system is installed onto the wall with the shower's datacable running through the product's riser bar and concealed, where the shower's datacable is hidden behind tiling, allowing the controller to be positioned according to individual preference.
The shower controller is vertical with a rounded top and bottom. In the centre are four pre-set buttons, allowing for individual shower settings for up to four family members (or flat- or housemates) to be recorded - or even four different preferences for one user at different times of day! The chosen button lights up with a surrounding blue LED light. The dial at the top of the controller denotes temperature (with hot and cool settings indicated by variable red and blue LEDs between the two, indicating current temperature), whilst the flow rate is controlled by the lower dial, illuminated by white LED lights with a green minimum flow "eco" setting. Users can choose any flow from an economical 8 litres per minute to a luxurious 18. The lights oscillate whilst the water is warming up and the flow rate is rising and only hold steady when the choices determined by the pre-set button are met. The top dial also serves as the start and stop button, whilst the bottom dial has a pause facility (eg for shampooing or shaving), which returns immediately to its pre-set flow and temperature on release.
There are two varieties of shower head accompanying the ilux Digital controllers: one is round and one is oval, which showers more of the body at one time. Both oval and round shower heads share the same lever handset design, that allows the user to select his or her preferred spray pattern from a choice of three. Both shower heads are height-adjustable with rub-clean, anti-limescale nozzles.
The ilux Digital bath control functions according to the same principles of interactivity, but is horizontal, with the temperature dial to the left and flow dial to the right. The bath will fill at the pre-set volume and to the pre-set temperature, with the user able to leave the bathroom with no risk of overflow, thanks to the "fill and forget" option! Should there not be enough hot water, it will stop and allow the user to determine what to do next, rather than making up the volume with colder water.
The accompanying remote control allows users to run the bath from a different room - or even from the bed! - and can also be used for a hot top-up whilst in the bath. The control is completely bathroom-proof and even if dropped in the bath will float to the surface! There is also a lock button, indicated by dimming lights, that disables the control, helping to prevent a child from using or changing the control whilst unsupervised. For extra security, the control can also be positioned away from the bath if so desired.
The ilux Digital bath comes with three types of spout: wall-mounted, deck-mounted and the iluxfill.
Ilux Digital is controlled by a new "processor", around half the size of its predecessors and with increased functionality. The technological advances made with this processor have allowed the leap forward that ilux Digital represents in terms of pre-set capabilities.
Dick Powell, co-founder and director of Seymourpowell, commented: "With every new digital generation from Aqualisa, we move closer both to delivering on the potential which the technology offers, and to providing a better bathing experience. The pre-sets are super simple to use - just shower as you like to, and press and hold a preset button to memorise. The same thinking extends into filling your bath with the push of a button and, with the new remote, you can do it from your bedroom.
ilux is an innovative and contemporary product which delivers seamless performance . . and that surely is the holy grail of design."
The technological capabilities, combined with the design's aesthetically-pleasing high-quality metal casings and metallic dials help set the ilux Digital shower and bath systems apart as high-end products.
"The length of time invested in the working partnership between Seymourpowell and Aqualisa has enabled Seymourpowell, once again, both to interpret our needs and the needs of our customers, with great clarity and precision", concluded Harry Rawlinson, Managing Director of Aqualisa.