Dyson’s clever new AR tool ensures you never miss a spot when vacuuming

Dyson just unveiled CleanTrace, a new augmented reality (AR) tool to help you thoroughly clean your home by marking where you’ve already vacuumed so you don’t miss a single spot. The tool works with the Dyson Gen5detect cordless vacuum and a LiDAR smartphone held by a phone holder that attaches to your vacuum. As users clean their floors, the phone uses AR to show the areas they’ve covered in real-time.

“We realized that we could all learn a thing or two from the methodical cleaning approach of our robot vacuums,” said Charlie Park, VP of Engineering at Dyson Home, in the announcement. “Unlike most humans doing the cleaning, Dyson robots know where they are in the room, where they have been, and where they have yet to go. With the Dyson CleanTrace, we add this extra layer of cleaning intelligence to the Gen5detect vacuum.”

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I always vacuum and mop in the direction of the floorboards, not because I’m trying to be careful with my floors but because it’s how I keep track of where I’ve cleaned. The new Dyson CleanTrace tool means no more counting floorboards to ensure thorough cleaning for me.

Dyson’s research shows that consumers are “haphazard and inefficient” when they vacuum, going over the same areas multiple times but missing other spots altogether. The company also says that users overestimate the time spent vacuuming: most say they vacuum for an average of 24 minutes per session, when 80% of cleaning sessions actually last under 10 minutes. 

This is what Dyson CleanTrace is trying to correct. “It gives you the ability to see where you have and haven’t cleaned, which, combined with our on-board particle sensing technology, gives proof that the floor is truly clean,” Park added.

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Aside from ensuring no more pet hair or dust is left behind, CleanTrace’s visible proof of cleanliness can make cleaning fun. For example, I imagine giving my older kid a vacuum with AR and telling them they must get their room’s floor to look purple. You may have seen an AR-powered vacuum system on the Apple Vision Pro on social media, but you could get one for a fraction of the price with the Dyson Gen5detect and CleanTrace. 

Dyson CleanTrace will be available in LiDAR-capable smartphones in June to use with the Dyson Gen5detect cordless vacuum.