Soft sprays, massaging jets, and multiple showerheads can be combined with mood music and lighting to create a sensual shower experience like no other. Simple cold showers invigorate while hot showers relax. What more could possibly be done with shower designs?
Imagine taking both hot and cold showers at the same time; cold droplets hitting adjacent to hot, lighting up both muscles and nerves as they respond to the invigorating stimulation. In addition to providing a shower experience like no other, the high frequency thermal stimulation may enhance subcutaneous blood flow, improving peripheral blood flow for those whose limbs are affected by diabetes or a similar affliction. Further, this unique shower could be adapted for use in sports medicine to accelerate the healing of injuries, similar to the present use of Electrical Muscular Stimulation (EMS).
Initial experimentation and validation could be accomplished by training streams from two shower heads on a subject's forearm, recording their comments and fingertip blood flow measurements. Testing would begin with two streams of warm water having the same temperature, and results recorded as their temperature differential increasingly diverged. Subsequent product designs would incorporate both hot and cold streams in a single showerhead, ensuring the close proximity of both hot and cold streams of water, regardless of the position of the person in the shower. These design modifications could be adapted to facilitate production by manufacturers of conventional plumbing fixtures. The material, manufacturing, and installation costs would be significantly less than conventional multiple shower head installations.
This concept would not be suitable for retrofit; it is not a simple replacement for a conventional showerhead. Rather, it could be incorporated in major renovations, high-end new construction, in mobile medical equipment (e.g. hydrotherapeutic equipment such as whirlpools), and a part of the permanent plumbing in appropriate medical establishments.
A cursory patent search for similar mechanisms did not disclose any comparable therapeutic treatment for improvement of injured or deteriorated tissues. A search on the Internet discloses a variety of available luxury shower systems, as indicated at http://www.trendir.com/archives/000483.html. These systems include conventional shower heads, multiple shower heads, massaging / jet shower heads, champagne (air entraining) shower heads, and adjustable / hand held shower heads.
These luxury shower systems frequently have undesirable environmental effects, as discussed at http://www.faucet.com/info/help_custom_shower_systems. Undesirable effects include flow requirements as high as 40gpm and similarly increased drainage requirements, and increased hot water heating and storage capacity. These requirements are passed back through the infrastructure, increasing energy, water, and wastewater treatment demands.
The proposed shower system does require balanced pressures and regulated temperatures at each showerhead, but does not require any additional flow or pressure capabilities. The two showerheads merely deliver water as discreet streams of hot and cool water, stimulating the user without causing discomfort.
Cue the mood music and lighting - bringing this product to market could be truly enjoyable.