I’ve seen these a couple of times in the UK, where you put your hands under a tap and they automagically turn on (don’t know why it took so long driers have been doing it for years). Well you can now buy them for your home.

They are called Automatic Water Faucet Turns, or in plain English, Magic Taps. The work by detecting movement under the tap (Infrared sensor) which turns the water-flow on and off automatically.

Other than the novelty/lazy reason for fitting these they do supposedly prevent the spread of germs, as you no longer have to wipe the germs onto the tap when you turn it on, wash you hands and then wipe the germs back onto your hands when you turn the tap off.

Available now from smarthome.