Designed and produced in-house by Italian manufacturer Zerica, the i-Wall hydration solution has won the coveted Red Dot Product Design Awards in both the Kitchen Appliances and the Smart Product categories.
i-Wall is an IoT-enabled, built-in hydration solution that dispenses filtered ambient, chilled and sparkling water for the office, restaurants or at home. It uses smart technology for a fully customisable user experience with an immediate and intuitive touchscreen interface and a market-leading degree of connectivity.
The Red Dot Awards have been long established internationally as one of the most sought-after seals of quality and top design. This year, 50 international expert judges selected the winners from thousands of products from around 60 countries guided by assessment criteria such as aesthetics, functionality and smart technology.
Winning not just one, but two awards is clear international recognition of the outstanding design quality, connectivity and smart capabilities of Zerica’s products; a prestigious double achievement for a company that celebrates its 90th anniversary this year.
Zerica has always prided itself as a manufacturer that handles everything in-house from product concept to design, testing and production. i-Wall is the latest product to come out of this meticulous process, benefitting from the technological advances seen at Zerica in recent years.
Aesthetically pleasing and available in glass, stainless steel or black skinplate, the unit is very quiet and straightforward to use. Users can programme portion sizes, set target drink temperature and the level of carbonation in sparkling water. For convenience, the spacious dispensing area was thoughtfully designed with jugs or water bottles in mind.
It is environmentally friendly too, with sustainable features such as programmable energy-saving time slots. It’s also plumbed-in, so no plastic in sight; no need to produce, transport, store and chill bottled water and no need to recycle bottles either.
For day-to-day management, users and owners are guided by alerts for filter and CO2 canister replacements, and can track real-time usage. For even more personalisation, businesses and users can upload videos and photos to use onscreen. Finally, for technical support, users can raise a request and let expert technicians troubleshoot remotely, running diagnostics and modifying parameters for remote problem resolution.
This last point is something that cannot be understated, and is the reason the i-Wall won a Red Dot Award in the Smart Product category. i-Wall uses Auxilia, Zerica’s dedicated internet portal for remote monitoring and also remote modification of key parameters. Technicians connect via any device (mobile, laptop etc.) to carry out non-intrusive, speedy and ecologically-friendly technical interventions.
Since 1931, Zerica has been producing water coolers and drinks dispensers providing chilled, ambient & sparkling water solutions to people worldwide. Today, Zerica is one of the most innovative companies in the sector and continues to move forward gathering multiple international awards along the way. The current focus is on adding more functionality to Auxilia’s already impressive and unique list of capabilities and then transferring this smart technology and real-time remote servicing capability to other products in the company’s extensive range for an even better user experience.
To find out more about the i-Wall hydration solution, visit Zerica’s website.
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