Dyson announced something a little different to its usual product launches at the beginning of April in the form of CleanTrace.
It took me a few reads of the press release to understand what CleanTrace was and what it was trying to offer, but now I have been to Dyson’s HQ in Malmesbury and I’ve not just seen CleanTrace in action, but I’ve used it myself too.
This is everything you need to know about CleanTrace – the ‘product’ that allows you to visualise your vacuuming skills in real-time, what I learned when I tried it out and what you can expect when it arrives later this year.
What is Dyson’s CleanTrace and how does it work?
Dyson’s CleanTrace isn’t one individual product – instead it’s a combination of hardware in the form of a smartphone clamp, and real-time augmented reality (AR) software through the MyDyson app. You attach your compatible smartphone to your Dyson Gen5Detect vacuum cleaner with the CleanTrace clamp, launch the software in the MyDyson app and start vacuuming your home as normal.
As you vacuum, your room appears on the screen on your smartphone, turning purple in real-time when you’ve vacuumed each particular area.
The idea is that you will be able to see where you have vacuumed and where you need to go back to, making sure you don’t do a half job and miss areas.
In terms of how Dyson’s CleanTrace works, it takes inspiration from the methodical way the Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot moves around the room. Your phone’s camera sees your cleaning path from an optimised position when attached to the wand of the vacuum cleaner, while the LiDAR sensor is used for the real-time AR mapping.
The software recognises the shape of the vacuum cleaner’s head and listens to the motor’s vibrations in order to produce the map, allowing you to see exactly where you have cleaned and where you need to go back to.
First impressions: What is Dyson’s CleanTrace like?
Dyson’s CleanTrace is much better than I expected it to be. I thought it would be laggy and a little pointless, but I was mistaken. Instead, there is very little lag between vacuuming and the area appearing purple on your smartphone’s screen.
It also gamifies vacuuming, turning what is usually a very boring chore into something much more fun. Making sure the map is completely purple and that you haven’t ‘missed a bit’ is oddly satisfying and it’s something I can see my kids thinking is a super fun Sunday game, rather than me just trying to get the vacuuming done as quickly as possible.
I suspect the floors will never have been cleaner in our home when this launches. I’m just hopeful the software doesn’t drain my iPhone’s battery life.
The smartphone clamp is as much a Dyson-engineered product as everything else the company offers too, with plenty of consideration. It hugs the Dyson Gen5 Detect’s wand, has a button on the back to release the smartphone and Dyson branding on the back too.
When you’ve finished vacuuming, you press the button on the back of the CleanTrace clamp to remove your smartphone, after which you can then hold your phone up and scan the room for a complete overview of how thorough you have been.
Everywhere you have cleaned will be purple, with the areas you have missed shown as you would see them in reality, without the purple overlay.
What do you need for CleanTrace to work?
This is where the bad news comes in. You will need the Dyson Gen5Detect cordless vacuum cleaner to use Dyson CleanTrace. The software will only appear in the MyDyson app if you have registered that vacuum cleaner so there’s no point buying the CleanTrace smartphone clamp unless you have Dyson’s top of the range vacuum cleaner.
Both the Fluffy Optic cleanerhead and the Motorbar cleanerhead of the Dyson Gen5Detect are supported, and while the heads of the Dyson V15 are similar, as is the wand the clamp attaches to, for now this model is not compatible.
You will also need an iPhone with a LiDAR sensor for the AR mapping. You will therefore need one of the below iPhone models alongside your Dyson Gen5Detect cordless vacuum:
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
When is Dyson CleanTrace available and how much does it cost?
The Dyson CleanTrace phone clamp will be available directly from Dyson – online and in-store – and it will appear in June 2024. Pricing has yet to be confirmed but this piece will be updated when we learn more.