(ethereal music)

The shower hasn't changed much in over a hundred years.

It's mostly just a pipe and gravity

and a lot of waste.

(shower running)

The average American family uses

400 gallons of water a day.

70% of that comes from indoor use

and most of it's from the bathroom.

Add to this a punishing Western drought

and driest year on record

and clearly something has to change.

A startup called Nebia has one idea:

To cut water waste by 70%.

The company started working

on the water efficient shower head

five years in Mexico City.

To make the new device, they looked at old technologies

used in the aerospace and automotive industries.

The challenge was to split droplets

into even tinier droplets, while still keeping the water

and surrounding space warm.

What we're doing essentially is atomizing water

and so we're creating millions of tiny little droplets

that create a surface area that's about a hundred times

greater than that of a regular shower head

so it creates this immersive and enveloping

experience of water.

The water savings was the key component,

that's why we started working on this

and then we realized, if you're gonna save water in a shower

it also has to be as good if not a better experience.

Nebia went through dozens of prototypes.

They used PVC pipe and nuts and bolts.

And while that might have looked okay

in a Steampunk-themed bathroom,

Nebia wanted to create an iconic brand,

something that consumers would see

as an aspirational lifestyle product.

So they turned to San Francisco's Box Clever for design.

Box Clever took Nebia's rough nozzles and smoothed them out,

ultimately settling on a design that mimics

the shape of the shower head's spray, a halo.

The handheld wand has the same look, only smaller.

The bar that connects the shower head to the wall behind you

includes a front piece that smoothly slides up and down

so adjusting the height is easy.

Our perspective on design is really about

creating lasting design.

We always think about, what's the long-term impact

whether it be environmental,

whether it be something that's an heirloom,

we're always thinking about these variables

and how to make design timeless.

Nebia held a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign

and there's currently an estimated delivery date

of May 2016.

The $400 device is one of the most, if not the most,

unique shower heads on the market

and that's because it works unlike any shower head.

I tried out a Nebia shower and it's, well, it's different.

Instead of pounding droplets like in a normal shower,

it's almost like stepping into a warm fog or a mist.

It's really airy, but it works.

And yes, you can wash your hair.

(shower running)