The Future of Hand-Dryers!

Hand dryer from outer space.

As designers we are constantly looking for that seamless synergy of form and functionality. A more recent component to enter this synergy is environmental sustainability.

At malls and other places, I’ve noticed that somewhat recent implementation of these futuristic looking, double sided hand dryers. The idea is you stick your hands inside and a jet of hot air dries your hands from not just one side, but from both sides! My hands were completely dry within just a few seconds, unlike the current hand dryers, which take hitting the button twice or more. This fairly ingenious industrial design not only dries your hands faster but saves energy by being on less and therefore reduces unnecessary waste. .

At school it saddens me to see garbage’s in the bathrooms overflowing and spilling onto the floor piles of paper towel. I know it’s tempting to  grab a piece, quickly dry your hands and toss it in the garbage, but there are hand dryers literally a few feet away. A quick solution would be to just get rid of the paper towel dispensers all together, which would force people to use the hand dryers. An implementation of these new hand dryers would also be a nice fix, as there would probably only be the need for one since they are quick and efficient.

These hand dryers are a somewhat recent innovation. This is just another example of the potential industrial design has to improve our lives on a subconscious level.