Magic Trick Number 420 – Water Flow

Ever noticed the magical hand gestures that Chris Angel and David Blaine use? Appling their knowledge and art to the good old kitchen faucet will make a real sorry show, unless you use the “Spatial Interaction” touchless kitchen tap! Touch-less as it gets, air-skim your hands in a gesture as to draw out water and pesto…the flow begins. Magic in your hands control everything, temperature, flow, speed, stream, but unfortunately this trick is restricted to the kitchen.
Designer: Jasper Dekker
Spatial Interaction from Jasper Dekker on Vimeo.
What we are seeing here is a prototype that was built with an enclosure milled out of a single block of Corian. Besides emphasizing on the touch-free (or less if you prefer) aspect, the design also speaks of hygiene. The faucet is controlled by *meaningful gestures and the shape of the tap supports this aspect.
*Meaningful gestures mean that the action required to control a function of a product need to be coupled to that function. In other words, if I want water to come out of the tap I perform a gesture along the side of the tap towards me, as if I am dragging the water out or saying ‘come to me’. If I want the water to stop running I perform the same gesture away from me, as if I am pushing the water back into the tap.