New Dyson V15 Detect uses lasers to shine a light on every speck of dirt

Dyson has a new flagship cordless handstick vacuum joining its ranks that will illuminate dirt and dust on your floors. The Dyson V15 Detect uses a laser dust-detecting system to shine a light on every last speck, even if you can't see it with the naked eye.

The dust-detection tech is housed within an upgraded Fluffy cleaning head (the soft roller brush designed for hard floors and comes with several Dyson handsticks) called the Slim Fluffy.

It uses laser diodes, mounted at an angle of 1.5º and 7.2mm off the ground, to cast an eye-safe, short green beam of light in front of the cleaning head. These specifications, according to Dyson, offers "the best contrast between dust and floor", with the light highlighting specks of dirt and debris.

While other vacuum cleaning heads use lights to show you where you're vacuuming, the Dyson V15 Detect is meant to instead show what you're vacuuming.

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The average size of dust, plant spores and mold is about 10 microns and, Dyson claims, the V15 Detect will, well, detect particles that small.

The V15 Detect is also fitted with an acoustic piezo sensor to detect sounds and vibrations of particles. Alongside a new microprocessor, this sensor allows the appliance to monitor the size and quantity of dust it's sucking up. This is then displayed graphically on the V15's built-in LCD monitor on the back of the main handheld unit, giving you a clear picture of the condition your floors are in.

The V15 Detect also ships with a small conical brush designed specifically to clean hair and fur from upholstered surfaces (like car seats and furniture). The shape of the cleaning tool causes strands to move towards the slimmer end without tangling with the brush, from where they're sucked into the bin.

According to Dyson engineers, this anti-tangle process works only on smaller sized tools, so an additional carpet-cleaning head isn't an option. In theory, the small tool can be used on carpets, but it will take you longer because of its smaller footprint.

These new innovations mean the V15 Detect is best used on hard floors, but we can't wait to test it to see if it performs just as well on rugs and carpets.

The V15 Detect has so far only been announced for select markets and is available in the US for $700 apiece (about £515 / AU$920). We'll update this articles when we know more about its availability and pricing in other markets.