The Dyson V15 Detect Uses Lasers to Spot Every Single Crumb

Just in time for some much-needed spring cleaning, Dyson just took the wraps off a cordless vacuum upgrade that will appeal to those obsessed with keeping their floors immaculate: a laser that illuminates every last spec of dirt and dust.

If you drop something small on the floor, an object that’s hard for the naked eye to see, the easiest way to find it is to shine a flashlight at a low angle, which causes even the tiniest of objects to cast a long shadow that’s easy to spot. That’s exactly what Dyson is doing with its new Dyson V15 Detect cordless vacuum, to help owners ensure their floors are truly spotless.

The V15 Detect’s new Laser Dust Detection feature, available on its Slim Fluffy cleaner head designed specifically for hardwood and tile floors, uses a green laser diode mounted at a 1.5-degree angle, 7.2 millimeters off the ground, to cast a wide beam of green light a couple feet ahead of the vacuum. The feature was apparently inspired by how airborne dust particles are made visible in a beam of sunlight, and a green laser was chosen because it was found to create the maximum amount of contrast between illuminated particles and the shadows they cast—although Dyson does admit the feature’s usefulness is dependent on the level of ambient light in the room.

If your dog wasn’t already afraid of the vacuum cleaner before, they will be once it’s coming toward them blasting lasers.

The new Dyson V15 Detect isn’t just about visually detecting dirty floors and areas you may have missed during a clean. Dyson has also added a new acoustic piezo sensor where the sucked up dust, dirt, and debris enter the storage bin that can detect the size and quantity of particles based on their subtle vibrations. That data is then displayed on the vacuum’s LCD screen, giving users a detailed report on what types of particles are most prevalent in their home, and how much of them the V15 Detect has sucked up.

The data could potentially let users know when it’s time for a duct cleaning if the vacuum is reporting that it’s sucking up loads of dust, but it’s more useful to the vacuum itself, improving the intelligence of its auto power mode so it automatically increases suction when more particles are detected, or reduces power when floors are cleaner to help extend its battery life.

Pet owners might also want to consider an upgrade to the Dyson V15 Detect as it introduces a new smaller cleaning tool designed for sucking both pet and human hair off of furniture without the tool’s spinning brush getting hopelessly tangled in hair. The spinning brush itself has been redesigned with a conical shape that naturally causes hairs to move towards the thinner end where they naturally spin off and make their way up and into the vacuum’s bin.

Unfortunately, Dyson’s engineers found the redesigned shape only works for the spinning brushes in its smaller cleaning heads. So while you can technically use this smaller tool on carpeted floors covered in pet hair, it’s going to take you a lot longer to get the job done.

The Dyson V15 Detect is available starting today directly from Dyson’s website and Dyson’s stores (if there happens to be one near you) for $700. If that’s a little more than you were hoping to spend, and too much vacuum for your tiny apartment, today Dyson also revealed its smallest, most maneuverable cordless vac.

The Dyson Omni-glide vacuum is reminiscent of the manually operated carpet sweepers that grab crumbs and larger debris without a motor, but upgraded with all of Dyson’s cordless vacuum technology so that particles as small as 0.3 microns are sucked up. Unlike the cleaning heads on all of Dyson’s previous vacuums—even the corded models—the new Omni-glide uses an omnidirectional cleaner head that can be maneuvered in any direction on a set of four swiveling caster wheels.

The design works using a pair of counter-rotating fluffy rollers that direct all dust and dirt to the center of the cleaner head where it’s sucked up into the vacuum, through filters, and into the debris bin. Dyson claims the design makes it much easier to maneuver around obstacles like furniture legs without having to move them out of the way first, while an an on/off power button replaces the trigger Dyson uses on its other vacuums so the Omni-glide can be passed between hands without the suction stopping when obstacles do have to be moved.

The Dyson Omni-glide also features an inline design including a streamlined handle, so the vacuum looks like a long stick. The redesign makes it easier to store, but also allows the vacuum to lay flat to the floor so it can be maneuvered under furniture and reach all the way back to areas that are usually ignored until something rolls under there.

The vacuum’s best feature, however, may be its new illuminated crevice tool, so that when you’re cleaning the gap between your fridge and the wall you can actually see if you’ve sucked up every last piece of dropped food. That should be standard on every single vacuum at this point, so hopefully Dyson will eventually bring it to its other cleaning tools one day soon.

The new Dyson Omni-glide is also available today on Dyson’s website, and while it’s definitely cheaper than the $700 V15 Detect at $400, it’s far from being the cheapest vacuum option on the market. It might not be ideal for those with small apartments who live in cramped quarters because it’s all they can afford, but if you’ve spent half a million dollars on an elaborate motorhome, the Omni-glide might be the perfect way to keep it clean without sacrificing limited storage space.