CES and ISH have spoken: this is what the bathroom will look like in 2027

Every January, the tech industry gathers in Las Vegas (CES) and every two years the bathroom industry makes its pilgrimage to Frankfurt (ISH). Between both trade shows, the map of what’s coming is drawn. And what’s coming in 2027 for the bathroom isn’t science fiction: it’s technology that already exists, that works and that’s becoming affordable.

We’ve been covering these trends at Bathscape for years and this year there’s a qualitative leap. AI has gone from being a buzzword to having real, tangible applications. The Matter protocol has unified home automation. And health sensors integrated into sanitary ware have moved from prototypes to products with catalogue prices.

But there’s also a lot of smoke, as every year. Products presented with gorgeous renders that won’t reach the market for 5 years. Promises of “your bathroom will know you” that actually mean “one more app on your phone that you’ll never open.”

Let’s separate the wheat from the chaff. Trend by trend, with our honest assessment of when it will reach your bathroom in Valencia and whether it’s worth waiting for or not.

1. Artificial intelligence in the bathroom: for real, not for marketing

Smart mirrors with integrated AI

Smart mirrors aren’t new. They’ve been showing the time, weather and news while you wash your face for years. But in 2027 they take a leap: real-time skin analysis via computer vision.

Brands like Kohler (with their Verdera Voice mirror) and startups like CareOS (with Themis) present mirrors that:

  • Analyse skin condition: hydration, redness, new spots, mole evolution
  • Suggest personalised care routines
  • Detect signs of fatigue or stress (dark circles, pallor, uneven tone)
  • Perform daily photographic tracking to detect changes

Our assessment: The technology works. But the question is whether people want their mirror telling them they look rough at 7 AM. Jokes aside, for dermatological monitoring (especially early melanoma detection), it has real value. Estimated price: €1,500-3,500. Availability in Spain: late 2027.

We’ve written more about this in our smart mirror guide.

AI-powered showers that learn your preferences

The concept: a shower that remembers you like water at 38°C with medium pressure for 7 minutes, and your partner at 41°C with strong pressure for 4 minutes. And it automatically adjusts when each person enters the bathroom (identification via app profile, Bluetooth proximity or even voice recognition).

Hansgrohe with their RainTunes system and Kohler with DTV+ already offer versions of this. The 2027 novelty is that AI adjusts parameters the user doesn’t explicitly configure: pressure based on time of day, slightly lower temperature in summer, “quick shower” modes before work vs “relaxing shower” in the evening.

Our assessment: Technologically impressive. Practically… how often do you actually change your shower settings? Most people find their ideal temperature and stop there. Where we do see value is in multi-user households: avoiding the daily thermostat negotiation has a price, and many people are willing to pay it. System price: €2,000-4,500. More details in our voice-controlled shower guide.

2. Matter protocol: finally a common language

This is, for us, the most important trend of 2027. Not for being flashy, but for being practical.

What Matter is

Matter is a home connectivity standard developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung and 200+ other members). Translation: a common language so all devices in your home understand each other, regardless of brand.

Until now, if you had a smart Grohe tap, a Kohler mirror and a Philips light, you needed 3 different apps and probably a home automation hub to get them talking. With Matter, they all speak the same protocol. One control, one configuration.

Impact on the bathroom

At ISH 2027, the major sanitary ware manufacturers confirmed Matter compatibility:

  • Grohe: Full SmartControl line compatible from Q3 2027
  • Hansgrohe: RainTunes and Pontos compatible
  • Kohler: DTV+ and Verdera updatable via firmware
  • Roca: “Evaluating implementation” (read: not before 2028)
  • Geberit: Updates planned for AquaClean

Our assessment: This is huge. It’s what bathroom home automation needed to stop being an early-adopter niche and become mainstream. If you’re thinking about a smart bathroom, waiting for your fixtures to be Matter-compatible makes total sense. If you already have pre-Matter devices, most can be updated via firmware.

3. Toilets that monitor your health

Of all trends, this generates the most headlines — and deserves the most scepticism at first glance. But the data is compelling.

Automated urine analysis

Toto (the Japanese giant) and several startups (Withings, Vivoo, Olive Diagnostics) present toilets or accessories that analyse urine with every use:

  • Hydration: Urine concentration level (specific gravity)
  • pH: Indicator of diet and kidney stone risk
  • Proteins: Early indicator of kidney problems
  • Glucose: Monitoring for diabetics
  • Ketones: For those following ketogenic diets
  • Reproductive hormones: Fertility tracking

Data is sent to the phone via app and can be shared with the doctor.

Our assessment: For the general healthy population, it’s interesting but not essential information. For diabetics, kidney patients or women in fertility treatment, it can be transformative: daily monitoring without finger pricks or test strips. Price: €3,000-6,000 for a toilet with integrated analysis; €200-400 for retrofit accessories. Read more about smart toilets in our dedicated article.

Scales integrated into the floor

Some manufacturers integrate weight and body composition sensors directly into the bathroom floor. You weigh yourself without noticing every morning, and the system records the evolution.

Our assessment: Technically feasible and already existing (Withings Body Scan). The challenge is installation in a bathroom floor with waterproofing. For new builds, interesting. For renovations, complicated and expensive. We don’t see it going mainstream before 2029.

4. Touchless everything: goodbye to touching things

The post-pandemic trend that’s here to stay, now with more mature technology.

Gesture control

Beyond the sensor tap (which is already standard in many renovations), gesture control extends to:

  • Mirrors: Wave to turn light on/off, adjust intensity
  • Showers: Gesture to pause water, another to adjust temperature
  • Toilets: Lid opening, flush, all contact-free

The technology behind it is 60 GHz radar (like Google Soli) or ToF (Time of Flight) cameras. More precise than traditional infrared and capable of distinguishing specific gestures.

Voice control (improved)

Alexa and Google Assistant in the bathroom already exist, but the experience was mediocre: tile reverberation confused the microphone. In 2027, beamforming microphones with adaptive echo cancellation (the same ones in video conferencing laptops) are integrated into bathroom devices.

Result: “OK Google, set the shower to 39 degrees” actually works, even with the water running. We tested it at ISH and the improvement compared to 2 years ago is notable.

Our assessment: Voice control in the bathroom has a privacy problem that not everyone wants to solve. Some people find it unsettling to have an always-on microphone in the bathroom. Legitimate. Gesture control has more potential in this context. Prices: integrated into fixtures from €400-800 additional.

5. Energy harvesting: the bathroom that generates its own power

This trend is moving slowly but it’s fascinating.

Piezoelectric tiles

When you step on a piezoelectric tile, the pressure generates a small amount of electricity. In a bathroom with daily traffic (2-4 people, several times a day), that accumulated energy can power nighttime signage LEDs, sensors or small IoT devices.

The company Pavegen has been working in commercial spaces for years and now has residential prototypes. The reality: one step generates 5-7 watts for a fraction of a second. To power a nighttime LED light, you need to store energy from about 200-300 steps. Feasible in a family bathroom, but tight.

Thermoelectric generators in pipes

They exploit the temperature difference between hot water in the pipe and ambient air to generate electricity (Seebeck effect). A module on the hot water pipe can generate 1-3W continuously while hot water flows. Enough to power temperature sensors, leak detectors or wireless transmitters.

Our assessment: Energy harvesting in the bathroom is real but marginal. It won’t power your hair dryer. Where it does make sense is making bathroom IoT sensors self-sufficient (no battery changes). In 3-5 years we’ll see this integrated as standard in premium fixtures. Today it’s more a curiosity than a practical solution.

6. AR/VR for planning your renovation

This really is 2027. And it’s not the future: it’s here.

LiDAR scanning with your phone

iPhones since the 12 Pro model and many premium Androids carry a LiDAR sensor. Point at the bathroom, scan for 30 seconds, and you have a precise 3D model (±1 cm) of your space. On that model, you can test combinations of materials, sanitary ware and layout.

At Bathscape we use this technology combined with our 3D configurator so clients see their renovated bathroom before a single tile is touched. The rate of last-minute changes in our projects has dropped 67% since we implemented 3D visualisation. That’s euros saved for the client and deadlines met for us.

Augmented reality in-store and at home

Applications like IKEA Place have allowed you to place virtual furniture in your real space for years. Now sanitary ware manufacturers offer the same for their products: you see how a Roca toilet looks in your bathroom before buying it. Accuracy has improved enormously with LiDAR and current processors.

We’ve written a complete article on augmented reality in bathroom renovations — if the topic interests you, all the detail is there.

Our assessment: 3D/AR visualisation is no longer a trend; it’s a working tool. If your renovation company doesn’t offer you some type of pre-visualisation, they’re living in 2015. No half measures.

7. Smart sustainability: tech in service of water

AI for optimising water consumption

Systems like Hansgrohe Pontos monitor water consumption in real time and use machine learning to detect anomalous patterns (slow leaks, excessive consumption). But in 2027 they go one step further: prediction and suggestion.

The system learns your patterns: 7-minute showers, 3 morning cistern flushes, sink used 8 times a day. If one month your consumption rises 15% with no apparent cause, it alerts you. If it detects a shower that’s been running 20 minutes, it sends a friendly notification. And shows you the economic impact: “This month you’ve spent €2.3 more on water than your average.”

Intelligent greywater recycling systems

The next generation of greywater recycling systems incorporates water quality sensors that adjust treatment in real time: if the greywater comes with more soap (long bath with salts), it increases filtration. If it comes clean (quick rinse), it reduces the treatment’s energy consumption.

Our assessment: Intelligent water monitoring is probably the trend with the best benefit/cost ratio on the entire list. A consumption sensor like Pontos costs €400-600 and can save you €200-400/year between leak detection and conscious consumption reduction. ROI in 1-2 years. Now that’s what we’re talking about.

What’s real vs what’s hype

After walking trade show floors at CES and analysing ISH catalogues, here’s our honest classification:

Ready now (install it today)

  • Quality residential touchless fixtures
  • Voice control with integrated speakers
  • 3D/AR renovation visualisation
  • Intelligent water consumption monitoring
  • Smart toilets with full functionality

Arriving in 2027-2028 (you can wait)

  • Matter-protocol fixtures and sanitary ware
  • Mirrors with AI skin analysis
  • Showers with AI-personalised profiles
  • Greywater recycling with intelligent adjustment

Not before 2029-2030 (don’t wait, but prepare)

  • Toilet-integrated urine analysis (reliable and affordable)
  • Significant energy harvesting
  • Floor-integrated body composition scales

Pure hype (don’t believe it yet)

  • “The bathroom that diagnoses diseases” — marketing exaggeration
  • Bathroom cleaning robots — media prototypes with no real product
  • Holographic shower screens — impressive demos, non-existent product

What this means for your renovation

If you’re planning a bathroom renovation in 2027, our practical advice:

  1. Install infrastructure: More electrical points than you think you need. Ethernet cabling or at least empty conduit for future cables. Greywater/blackwater drain separation. This costs little during the build and a lot afterwards.

  2. Choose Matter-compatible: If you’re buying smart fixtures or devices, ask if they’re Matter-compatible or will have an update. Avoid closed proprietary systems.

  3. Invest in what works today: Digital thermostatic, sensor tap, automatic lighting. Mature technologies, reasonable prices, immediate benefit.

  4. Leave budget for upgrading: Don’t spend 100% on the initial renovation. Reserve 10-15% for adding technology over the next 2-3 years as prices drop and products mature.

Use our renovation quiz to discover what technology level fits your lifestyle and budget. Or explore our bathroom designs to see how we integrate these technologies into real projects.

Frequently asked questions

Is it worth waiting for technology to mature before renovating?

No. Technology cycles are continuous — there will always be something new in 6 months. Renovate when you need to, but install the infrastructure (electrical points, cabling, separated pipes) to be able to add technology later. What’s expensive is breaking walls, not the devices.

Are smart bathroom devices safe against hacking?

With Matter, security improves substantially (end-to-end encryption, device authentication). But no connected device is 100% secure. Our advice: segment your WiFi network (one network for IoT, another for personal devices) and keep firmware updated.

How much does a “full tech” bathroom cost in 2027?

Depends on the level. A bathroom with digital thermostatic, sensor tap, smart illuminated mirror and integrated bidet toilet: €12,000-18,000 (including renovation). A bathroom with everything (health analysis, AI, water recycling): €25,000-40,000. Most of our clients in Valencia fall in the first range. Check our calculator to estimate your case.

Do smart bathroom technologies need special maintenance?

Generally no more than conventional devices. Firmware updates (automatic in most cases), filter changes in water systems, and little else. What we do recommend is purchasing an extended warranty that covers electronic components.

What happens if the power goes out in a fully tech bathroom?

Good systems have manual fallback mode. A digital thermostatic tap still works as a single-lever mixer. A smart toilet has manual flush. The only function you lose is the “intelligence,” not the basic functionality. As long as it’s well designed, which is exactly what we do.

Conclusion: the connected bathroom is no longer the future

2027 is the year bathroom technology moves from “trade show curiosity” to “real option in your renovation.” Not because there are revolutionary products — there are — but because the ecosystem has matured. Matter unifies connectivity. Prices are dropping. Installers are getting trained. And clients are starting to request it.

At Bathscape we’ve been betting on this since we started. Not because we’re tech geeks (though we are, we won’t lie to you), but because we believe the bathroom is the room in the house that can benefit most from automation. It’s a space of predictable routines, with water and electricity, where accessibility and efficiency are critical.

If you want a bathroom that’s ready for the next 15 years, check our completed projects and read our clients’ reviews. Or just tell us what you need — we’re all ears and data.