A robot vacuum touted as the most powerful in the world is set to be released in New Zealand in the coming months.
The Dyson 360 Vis Nav has been designed with new technology and intelligence that the British tech company said will give it an edge over its competitors, which in Aotearoa include models from the likes of Samsung, Roomba and Ecovacs.
The 360 Vis Nav is able to clean right up to the edges of walls, including into corners, with the company saying one of its aims is for robot vacuums needing to "clean better than a human".
Dyson hasn't announced what the unit will cost in New Zealand, but in Australia it will launch at AU$2399 (around NZ$2535).
Dyson also announced today it will release its first-ever wet roller head vacuum 'the Submarine', as well as the Big+Quiet: a new air purifier that can pump out up to 87 litres of purified air per second over 10 metres and features a 'Breeze Mode', which is meant to emulate the random air movements of a natural breeze.
Fitted with a 360-degree fisheye camera, the 360 Vis Nav features what Dyson calls 'Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM)' technology, allowing it to see dust and debris, know where it's already cleaned and avoid obstacles better than the company's previous robot vacuum models.
It has a full-width brush bar with soft nylon bristles for larger debris on hard floors, anti-static carbon fibre strands for finer dust on hard floors and stiff nylon bristles for carpet. This means it should be able to run over carpet, mats, rugs and hard floors with the one brush and effectively clean all floor types. Dyson also said it can climb up to 21mm.
The 360 Vis Nav boasts a power rating of 65 air watts with its Dyson Hyperdymium motor, which spins up to 110,000rpm, the company said, claiming it possesses "six times the suction of any other robot vacuum".
It has a side edge actuator that redirects suction to the brush's side along with wall-follow sensors that address what James Carswell, the senior robotics design manager at Dyson, said was the primary problem with earlier models.
"Our previous robot vacuums were mostly round and they tried to get into corners but couldn't do it properly. That was the number one thing we weren't satisfied with," Carswell told Newshub.
"We've redesigned this one so it's D-shaped, it's square at the front with a full-width brush bar, and you'll see straight away it gets properly right into corners."
The new design wasn't only about cleaning right up to the edges of walls, however.
"Our previous robot was also a lot higher, so it wasn't getting underneath low furniture as much as we wanted. We've compressed it all down and made this as small as we can, so it achieves a key thing for us which is getting in between chair legs," said Carswell.
"Then on the software side, the navigation needed a bit of improvement as well. It's got the same core software, but we just kept on improving it more and more, so now it navigates around your home to give better coverage and gets stuck less."
Using the companion app, owners will be able to create custom zones of whatever size they like in their homes and schedule the robot to vacuum them at specific times, or on demand. This is similar to technology already available in competitor products.
The 360 Vis Nav is fitted with a piezo sensor, which has come in the last few generations of flagship Dyson stick vacuums, that measures how much dust of what particle size it's picking up. This will regulate the suction power when it's on auto mode, but also provides dust maps on the app so users can keep a track of which areas of their home are the dirtiest and how effectively the vacuum is cleaning them.
Due to privacy concerns, Dyson said the camera hardware on the 360 Vis Nav is not linked to any of the hardware that connects to the internet, so any imagery it captures stays on the device itself. It can't be accessed by anyone, including the owner.
That should be reassuring to prospective customers worried about potential spies. However, people have had bad experiences with robot vacuums before and may need a different form of reassurance before coughing up the high asking price - especially if they swore off buying a robot vacuum ever again, as is the case with some folks.
Carswell said this robot vacuum is different - that feedback from trials of the 360 Vis Nav has been very positive and using the app is particularly satisfying.
"When people first use it and they see how much stuff is picked up and put in the clear bin, there is a real wow factor with how well this robot does its job - people are amazed," he said.
"The dust maps are really cool. The first time you get one, it can be shocking - I couldn't believe there was so much dust under my sofa! But then you do a few more cleans and you see the dust levels go down and that gives a lot of satisfaction.
"And it's just satisfying knowing it gives you a scientifically clean floor. It's got whole-machine HEPA filtration that filters dust as small as 0.1 microns, which I just don't see any of the competition doing - we know they don't, because we've tested them. And for many people there's a lot of value in having as clean and healthy a home as possible."
The battery will give up to 50 minutes of run time, Dyson said. When it's scheduled to clean areas of a home at specific times, it'll recharge just enough to complete its clean before moving back out to finish the job, the company added.
The Dyson 360 Vis Nav will be available to buy in Aotearoa this year from the Dyson website. Which retail outlets it will be available from and the local launch price have not been announced.
Newshub travelled to Singapore courtesy of Dyson for this article.
