Dyson has an air purifier and a robot vacuum
Dyson’s Global Headquarters in Singapore: From St James Power Station to Future Robotic Vacuum Cleaners and Appearance of the Climate Crisis
It is hard to think of being so worried about my home’s hygiene that I would want to spend a lot more money on things like a Dyson wand and a new app. For the past few years, I have cleaned my home in a big weekly fashion, including air-drying my linens, scrubbing the bathroom and kitchen, vacuuming, and mopping the floor. That being said, I think a house with kids is more complicated and messy than a one-bedroom apartment with a cat.
I walk into the cool interior of Dyson’s global headquarters in Singapore, which was once the St James Power Station, the first power plant in Singapore. After a stint as a warehouse, in 2006, the location became a sprawl of cheesy harborside nightclubs with flashy cars and obnoxious drunks. Now, it’s pristine and quiet, a serene corporate haven of concrete, glass, and open-plan office spaces nestled within the building’s original industrial steel skeleton. I am told that there are some unhappy snakes in the copse of trees on the ground floor.
In the reception area, there is a functioning prototype of the canceled electric car on display, as well as a mini tour of Dyson products. There is a vacuum cleaner made of recycled plastic that is a real hit among vacuum cleaner enthusiasts due to how few of them have ever been produced. The common thread between these failures, at least how they’re spun, is that Dyson was too ahead of its time. The Recyclone came out in 1995 when “there was a perception that because they were made out of recycled plastic, they weren’t as good,” says floorcare VP Charlie Park. The car project cost a lot and wasn’t commercially viable. It was the same story for Dyson’s short-lived Contrarotator washing machine. Things will be different for the technologically bold and environmentally sustainable in 2023. There is positive selling points to come out of the climate crisis.
Of course, Dyson is known for its regular vacuums, which are still a necessity even if you have a robot vacuum — robot vacuums still can’t do stairs. The newest Dyson vacs, the Gen 5outsize and Gen 5detect, are powered by Dyson’s fifth generation Hyperdymium motor. This is “smaller, faster, and more powerful than its predecessors,” according to Dyson. According to Dyson, the new models can capture viruses from your home.
On the same day we visit Singapore Advanced Manufacturing, Dyson has a fully automated, minimally staffed motor manufacturing facility where production runs 24/7. Basic explanations by engineers are drowned out as they inch between rows of glass cased machine lines. Next, we tour a second Dyson facility, including a semi-anechoic chamber to perform sound tests, a glimpse at how Dyson tests human hair for the Supersonic and Airwrap (which I’m emphatically told is ethically sourced from the UK), and a disappointing look at a laser in a fluid dynamics lab that isn’t allowed to be turned on. Nobody takes my request to try and see if people lose balance and fall over in an anechoic chamber seriously.
The Dyson 360 Eye and Submarine Wet Vacuum Cleaner, which is priced at 999$/cmu$m
As a Dyson product, we can expect the Vis Nav to be expensive. The Dyson 360 Eye launched in 2016 for $999. We would also expect it to be innovative. But from the details Dyson has provided, which aren’t a lot, it looks like the company is going for power and precision over whiz-bang new features.
As with earlier models, the Vis Nav has an extra long brush that extends the length of the vacuum — most robo vacs make do with a small brush right in the center. The brush has three different surfaces to help it pick up debris, including soft “Fluffy” nylon that can be used to pick up large debris, anti-static carbon fiber and stiff nylon bristles to dig into carpets.
The other big change is the smaller size. Dyson didn’t provide any specifications but says the Vis Nav can get under furniture as low as 3.9 inches. The original Eye was 4.72 inches high, too tall to get under most sofas or beds. It is a bad choice for a product that sits out in peoples’ homes to be still blue.
Dyson uses its own version of simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology for figuring out how to get around your home, powered by a small camera on the top of the robot surrounded by LEDs to help it see in the dark.
The Vis Nav will work with the MyDyson app, has a 50-minute runtime, and will automatically return to its charging dock. The company didn’t provide any more details, such as bin size, battery size, or any info on software features such as mapping or keep-out zones. You can sign up for updates at Dyson’s website.
The Dyson Submarine is the first wet vacuum cleaner. Its wet roller head can mop up wet spills like ketchup and milk, as well as remove dust and stains from hard floors. An attachment to the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine and Dyson V12s Detect Slim Submarine vacuums, the roller head contains a small, 300ml clean water tank and a separate waste water tank with a motorized microfiber roller for scrubbing. Dyson says the submarine attachment wont work on existing vacuums, and that both models will also ship with standard vacuum cleaner heads.
Finally, the new Dyson Purifier Big+Quiet Formaldehyde (meaning it claims to trap and destroy formaldehyde, as well as 99.97 percent of other pollutants) is a smart air purifier designed for large open-plan spaces in your home. With a completely different design from Dyson’s other tall and slim air purifier / fan models, the Big+Quiet uses new “cone aerodynamics” to project its purifying powers over 32 feet. There is a Dyson HEPA Big+Quiet Formaldehyde which will be a topic of discussion in the office.
