(NAPSA)—A magazine editor who helps define and dictate the next big trends in interior design has one in her own well-accoutered home. Top interior designers on both coasts have placed one alongside gorgeous Hermes throws, custom furnishings and exotic floor coverings. Beverly Ellsley, a leading interior designer, even had one in her six-figure, state-of-the-art kitchen at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Manhattan. Such popularity has lifted a seemingly common household appliance into the realm of glamour. Electrolux’s Trilobite, the world’s first self-propelled robotic vacuum cleaner, is designed with a keen sense of style that has many displaying it in their homes as a showpiece rather than relegatingit to the hallwaycloset. “It’s a prestige product,” ex- plains Eric Cohler, founder of Eric Cohler Design. “It’s like a top-of- the-line cigar, the rarest wine or the latest luxury automobile.” In fact, Cohler placed the Trilobite amid high-end furnishings and one-of-a-kind designer pieces at a recent trend show house. “Tt’s about the luxuryof living, the luxury of having more time to enjoy the people and the things you love,” said Randall Sandlin, director of consumer design for Electrolux Home Care Products. Howit all began Back in the ’80s, Electrolux was one of the first major appliance companies to dabble in automatic vacuum concepts. More than 20 years of product develop- A robotic vacuum cleaner is receiving accolades for both its form and function. ment were spent to get it “just right” and the intense process involved more than 100 experts in disciplines ranging from acoustics and mathematics to national defense. Though clunky and tech- nologically simplistic, the original designs set the company on its path to inventing and introducing the world’s first self-propelled vacuum cleaner in 1997. After more than 200 prototypes, the final device was a celebrated revolution in product design. Called a cross between a high-style automobile, a space-age rocket, a high-performance vacuum and a compact household appliance, it consists of more than 1,000 components and embodies the highest levels of engineering and craftsmanship. It offers some exclusive perks, such as its ultrasound and infrared navigation system, whichlet it calculate the dimensions of a room and the best cleaning path, as well as travel within millimeters of an object without bumpinginto it. The Trilobite is changing the way people relate to automatic vacuum technology, which isstill relatively new in the United States. It incorporates humanizing features—for instance, its charming “whistle” engages each time it is powered on—and displays distinct characteristics. Europeanloyalists have even been known to affectionately nickname their Trilobites and call after them as they would a beloved pet. This trend seems to already have caught on stateside, as Ellsley and her design partner and daughter, Rebecca, immediately named theirs “Trilly” after it faithfully cleaned up the messes left by more than 20,000 A-list guests who passed through their kitchen showroom. Masterpiece of design Aside from its advanced mechanics, the vacuum designelicits curiosity with its unusual exterior: it’s compact and round with pronounced fin-like markingslike the prehistoric arthropod for which it was named; it has a dis- tinct reddish-orange hue with a satin finish; and it features a goldcoated, ribbon-like band along the front of its carousel. The design has received accolades from leading design museums worldwide from London to Paris to New York. “People don’t want to buy a robotic vacuum simply because it moves on its own; it must deliver on all its promises—to be a vacuum, to be autonomous, to be sophisticated and beyond,” explains Sandlin. For store locations and more information, visit www.electrolux usa.com or call 877-366-5514.
