Image credits https://www.dyson.com
If this had been revealed a week earlier, people could have easily mistaken it for an April Fools’ joke from Dyson. However, Dyson confirms that vacuuming with augmented reality (AR) is not fiction and will be launched in June – unfortunately just a bit too late for the traditional spring cleaning. With the arrival of summer, Dyson introduces CleanTrace™, available for the Dyson Gen5detect™ system. The technology still seems futuristic in the press photos, focusing on mobile phones instead of advanced devices like an Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest headset.
Despite the potential for an immersive AR experience, the question arises who actually wants to vacuum with a device on their head. Although the concept seems somewhat extravagant and superfluous, this is precisely what makes it interesting. It probably won’t immediately persuade people to invest in a $700 vacuum cleaner, but it’s certainly not the most eccentric thing Dyson has introduced.
Dyson reports that the idea was inspired by the map technology of Dyson’s robot vacuum cleaners. “We realized that we can learn from the systematic approach of our robot vacuum cleaners,” says Charlie Park, VP of engineering at Dyson. “Unlike many people, our robots have a clear picture of their position in the room, where they have already been and where they still need to go.” In preparation for the annual big clean, Dyson unveils a new method to perfect your vacuuming technique with an AR tool that guarantees no spot is missed. A thorough study of cleaning behavior shows that users usually overestimate the time they spend cleaning and underestimate how thoroughly they vacuum their home. The Dyson CleanTrace™ and Dyson Gen5detect™ vacuum cleaner work together to make the invisible visible – by identifying missed areas and showing evidence of cleanliness directly on your phone. In the demonstrations, the system generates a purple overlay, Dyson’s signature color, to mark the path of the vacuum cleaner. The goal is to see the entire room in this color, indicating that all spots have been reached, rather than relying on outdated technology.
Image credits
https://www.dyson.com
Dyson indicates that their research shows that people often think they clean longer than is actually the case – about 80% of cleaning sessions last less than 10 minutes, while people claim to vacuum an average of 24 minutes each time. This finding particularly highlights how little enthusiasm there is for vacuuming, a task that is often perceived as unpleasant. We therefore significantly overestimate how much time we spend on it daily. If CleanTrace™ can even save a little time and make the cleaning process more efficient, that’s only positive.
And if the device becomes popular with users, how far are we then from a gamification of vacuuming?
If you want to read more about other useful devices for cleaning your home, you might find the following articles interesting:
Roborock S7 – smart vacuum cleaner
Robot vacuum cleaners against pet hair
Review of the Xiaomi Mijla Roborock S50 robot vacuum cleaner
Source for news techcrunch.com
