James Dyson, 79, revolutionized the world of household appliances in the early 1980s with his bagless vacuum cleaner with “cyclonic” technology. Since then, the British inventor, industrial designer and entrepreneur has continued to innovate: cordless vacuum cleaners, bladeless fans; hand dryers; hair dryer: robots... Today it returns where we least expected it with CameraJet, an electric toothbrush capable, thanks to an integrated camera and a pulsed jet, of perfectly cleaning the gaps between the teeth and removing dental plaque. 20 Minutes was able to interview him during his visit to Paris.
What does a typical James Dyson day look like?
I start by brushing my teeth (laughs) then I go to work. Whatever the day, I am at the heart of the teams, with our engineers. I am very involved in every detail, every tenth of a millimeter of everything, because that’s what I love to do! In my place, others would worry more about running their business, but I prefer to be as involved as possible in the development of our products. And at the end of the day, I brush my teeth before bed!
So precisely, this “CameraJet” toothbrush: what were the challenges to overcome?
There were two, actually. The first was to develop the camera it is equipped with. But the most complicated thing was imagining how the CameraJet would be able to find the gaps between each tooth. An exercise that is all the more difficult as the brush is in constant motion when using it.
Also, an integrated camera was not enough. We had to be able to determine the contours of each tooth and analyze them in real time using AI. This was the hardest part.
This integrated camera can worry…
She's not a problem. First, because its lens is an ultra-precise macro lens. It is incapable of taking a photo of anything other than your teeth. Then, because the filmed images are processed locally, they remain local. Finally, because apart from viewing them live while brushing on the screen of your smartphone, there is no other way to access them.
Did competing electric toothbrushes influence or teach you anything during the development of the “CameraJet”?
No, not much...
What do dentists think of your toothbrush?
They notice that with it dental plaque disappears. Even more, they find that the CameraJet requires its users to use methodically and gently, far from brushing often done in a hurry, without spending the recommended two minutes. What's more, the MyDyson application allows you to know whether you have brushed your teeth well or not. It acts as a bit of a tutorial.
We imagine that copies of this brush will quickly arrive on the market at a lower cost. What does this inspire you?
…what you can imagine! Low-cost counterfeiting is not very complicated... but the performance of the products has nothing to do with it. At school, I was always told that if I copied from my neighbor, I was going to get kicked out. For the record, I had a heated discussion with ChatGPT on this subject. The AI told me that in the commercial field, copying was normal! I asked him if it was “moral”, and the AI told me that indeed, it was not. The conversation continued. I hope I managed to change his judgment on counterfeiting (laughs)…
Why direct your developments towards this or that type of device? How are your choices made?
I have always wanted to imagine products that I would want to use every day. And as engineers, the advantage of imagining such things is that we can take risks! When we came up with our first bagless vacuum cleaner, we had no idea whether or not people would want a bagless vacuum cleaner. As users, this made sense to us. So we invented it!
You can also be wrong...
It happens, yes.
In fact, you launched a mask with an integrated air purifier. But also an audio headset. Did the public buy in?
We started working on the Dyson Zone mask before Covid. It did not happen in response to the pandemic. In fact, it turned out that people didn't want it, felt a little stupid wearing it. It is still sold, but we only sell very few of it. On the other hand, the public likes our ontrac headset, its audio quality. The problem is that we cannot know in advance what the public expects. This is also what makes our work exciting: you never know if success will be there.
How much attention do you pay to the environment in your thoughts?
I hate greenwashing. Our principle is not to manufacture products that please environmental lobbies. On the other hand, we favor “light” engineering, reducing the number of parts of which our devices are made, but also their electrical consumption. Examples: our hand dryers consume 700 watts today, compared to 3,500 watts yesterday. Some of our vacuum cleaners have 200 Watts, compared to 2,400 Watts before.
