If there’s one thing I’ve learned about tech shows in my short years of covering and attending them, it’s that the stuff on show is quite mind-blogging. Either because of how mind-numbingly dull it is (five hundred near-identical low-brand smartphones, anyone?) or that it’s so spectacularly weird nobody would ever want it. This latest announcement from Kohler is definitely the latter.
In the tradition of adding a voice assistant to every single object in the home, whether it needs it or not, Kohler has developed an Alexa-enabled showerhead for people to use and install. Yes, you read that correctly, and it should be no surprise that this same company showed off an Alexa-powered toilet at last year’s show.
The showerhead in question is called Moxie, and it features a special waterproof speaker (IPX67 rated) that fits inside the ring where all the water comes out. I can’t help but wonder if it’d be more sensible to have the speaker in the ring and not the other way round, but I guess this way makes it easier to remove and recharge via a special cordless charging dock.
It’s also tuned to ignore the rush of water coming out of the shower, which means it’ll actually be able to understand what you’re asking of it. And in case you were wondering, it stays in place thanks to magnets.
Obviously this is one way to add a speaker system to your shower, without having to resort to the much cheaper waterproof speaker options that are available. Plus, if you’re rich enough to be able to afford smart products for the bathroom, you can use your shower to control them all.
Thankfully the Moxie itself isn’t out of most people’s price ranges, not that I’d call it cheap. The Alexa-enabled model is set to retail for $229 ($330), while the speaker alone will cost $159 ($230). But without the showerhead it’s only marginally better than an Echo Dot. There’s also a Bluetooth-only version that costs $169 ($243) with the shower head, in case you want a more traditional speaker. That’s $99 ($142) if you’d rather have it on its own, and it has an extra 1-2 hours of battery life. It’s also not potentially listening in when you go for a poo.
No word on a release date yet.
This post originally appeared on Gizmodo UK, which is gobbling up the news in a different timezone.