What is Dyson’s AR CleanTrace?

If you think there’s nothing more boring than vacuuming, then you probably haven’t cleaned your oven in a while. But don’t worry about that now, because you’ll also be interested in this new tech from Dyson.

Known as ‘CleanTrace’, it’ll use augmented reality (AR) to give you a view of your floor as you’re vacuuming – showing the areas you’ve cleaned and those which you’ve missed – in real time.

At the end of your cleaning session, you can then scan the room with your phone to see any spots you’ve overlooked.

The CleanTrace technology is made up of two parts: an AR tool within the MyDyson app, and a phone clamp. Dyson says that it has been created to improve vacuuming efficiency, using a lot of words like “systematic”, “methodically” and “effective” when describing the tech, but really, it will make vacuuming better because it’s so much more satisfying to wipe purple stripes across a screen than it is to clean a floor.

Dyson also points out that people are mildly delusional when it comes to cleaning. Its research shows that people imagine that they vacuum for much longer than they do (not me – I literally clean for thousands of hours, or at the very least, it feels that way) and that they are “haphazard and inefficient” as they swipe the vacuum around the room.

But the CleanTrace tool can’t be used by everyone. First off, you’ll need a Dyson Gen5detect vacuum, although it’s possible that the technology will work with other Dyson vacuums in the future. You’ll need to make sure your Gen5detect has been registered with Dyson as well.

Then you’ll need to buy the phone clamp, which you’ll be able to get from Dyson from June onwards, and which will attach to the vacuum wand as you see in the official image above.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Once the CleanTrace feature has been launched, you’ll find it in the MyDyson app. But there’s a catch: the clamp and app will only work with Apple’s iPhone, and even then, only the Pro and Pro Max versions.

As a result, you’ll have to own one of the following smartphones:

Then there’s the question of whether the experience will be as good as it looks in the promotional photos and videos, which take the imaginative liberty of faux-painting virtual purple stripes all over a floor.

In reality, you’ll be peering down at your phone screen while it’s attached to a vacuum cleaner, which, once you start thinking about it, does not seem as enticing. At the very least, though, it will increase your chances of your kids vacuuming for you.

We’ll be reviewing it and we’ll let you know what we think when we’ve had a chance to test it.

CleanTrace is will be available from June 2024 from Dyson’s website and in Dyson demo stores. The app feature will be free, but the 104g phone clamp, won’t be. Its price is yet to be confirmed by Dyson, so we’ll update this article when that’s been announced.

If you’re considering buying a Dyson vacuum, see our review of the flagship Gen5detect or check out our round-up of the best cordless Dyson vacuums to find the right model for you.