Category: AR

Dyson makes cleaning more efficient with its new AR smart tech cleaning tool

Cleaning can be a thankless task. As you head towards the Spring Clean finish line, you may think you can’t go wrong, yet amid navigating chair legs and under furniture, moving between rooms and sidestepping our furry friends, it’s easy to inadvertently miss areas, or repeatedly vacuum the same spot, reducing efficacy and wasting time.

Taking inspiration from the systematic cleaning approach of the Dyson 360 Vis Nav  robotic vacuum cleaner, the Dyson CleanTrace helps users to clean more methodically by providing real-time AR visualisations of where they have cleaned and the spots they have missed, removing the guesswork and solving the have-I-cleaned-there-yet quandary.

The Dyson CleanTrace brings together a combination of technologies for the most powerful, intelligent and thorough clean. LiDAR technology from a user’s phone allows the Dyson CleanTrace  to map your room and overlays cleaning pathways using AR, showing you where you have cleaned and what you have missed. When you’ve finished cleaning, you can scan the room with your phone to identify gaps, so you never miss a spot. The existing technology within the Dyson Gen5detect then acoustically senses and counts the dust particles, showing proof of a deep clean.

“We realised that we could all learn a thing or two from the methodical cleaning approach of our robot vacuums. Unlike most humans doing the cleaning, Dyson robots know where they are in the room, where they have been, and where they have yet to go. With the Dyson CleanTrace™, we add this extra layer of cleaning intelligence to the Gen5detect vacuum. It gives you the ability to see where you have and haven’t cleaned, which, combined with our on-board particle sensing technology, gives proof that the floor is truly clean.” Charlie Park – VP of Engineering, Dyson Home

Inefficient cleaners

Dyson engineers are obsessive about engineering ways to improve how we clean. In addition to extensive in-lab testing, our engineers study human behaviours and cleaning habits, as well as frustrations, in the real world. They have spent hundreds of hours observing home cleaning around the world – studying how long each cleaning session lasts, effectiveness of cleaning, different vacuuming angles and patterns, even how many times a user puts down a machine during a session, all of which inform continuous innovation in floor care technology.

Research shows that consumers regularly overestimate the amount of time they clean – data shows that around 80% of cleaning sessions last less than 10 minutes, yet people claim they vacuum for an average of 24 minutes per session. Moreover, consumers are haphazard and inefficient – regularly covering the same areas multiple times and missing other spots altogether, demonstrating the need for the Dyson CleanTrace.

The Dyson CleanTrace will be available from June 2024.

Sign up to be notified when the product is available for purchase here.

Availability: The Dyson CleanTrace will be available globally from June, from Dyson.co.uk and Dyson Demo stores only.

Pricing: To be confirmed.

Weight: The Dyson CleanTrace phone clamp weighs 104g

App access: Owners will be able to open the Dyson CleanTrace  software via the MyDyson app. It requires registering a Dyson Gen5detect vacuum cleaner for the module to become visible on the app home screen.

Dyson Gen5detect cordless vacuum cleaner: The most powerful HEPA cordless vacuum is powered by the new Dyson Gen5 Hyperdymium motor to deliver up to 280AW of suction power. It features our Fluffy Optic™ cleaner head that reveals twice the amount of invisible dust and traps 99.99% of particles down to 0.1 microns, the size of viruses. A piezo sensor counts and sizes particles 15,000 times per second – automatically increasing power when needed and showing proof of a deep clean

Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum: The most powerful robot vacuum with six times the suction of any other, armed with 360-degree vision and pioneering technology to know where it has been, see where to clean, detect walls to clean right to the edge, and is intelligent enough to respond to dust sensed in the home, ramping up suction power when needed

Dublin City Council Launch ‘DiscovAR Dublin’ – Ireland’s First Augmented Reality Map

Dublin City Council has today announced the launch of a new augmented-reality (AR) mapping feature that allows users of the Dublin Discovery Trails app to open up a 3D map of Dublin on their device and allow them to explore the city in a new, innovative way.

‘DiscovAR Dublin’ is a first for Ireland in utilising new open Google Maps technology to form an interactive 3D map where users can be transported into the city to interact with the map to uncover Dublin landmarks, museums and attractions. Users can also learn more about the history and significance of locations such as the Guinness Storehouse, EPIC – the Irish Emigration Museum and 14 Henrietta Street.

The project is a collaboration between the Dublin City Council, Smart Dublin and Virgin Media Business alongside Peel X, who developed the feature for the Dublin Discovery Trails app.

Launched last year, the app is a platform on which the Dublin local authorities can develop new and exciting immersive experiences combining the real-world history with smart technologies. Already there are unique experiences published including Doors into Docklands, Balbriggan and Castleknock heritage tours.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Daithí de Róiste, launching this exciting new feature said, “This is first for Ireland, the user can ‘literally’ step into the city from anywhere in the world and explore Dublin in the palm of their hand. This innovative technology will help further position Dublin as a world-class destination with this new experience. I’m delighted to launch DiscovAR here today and I’d encourage everyone to download the app and try it today to explore the best of what Dublin has to offer.”

Tourists and locals alike can use the app before they visit the city, or while they are in the city with the vision that it will assist users to learn more about Dublin and its extensive history, sights, monuments and streets across the capital city.

Also commenting on the launch of ‘DiscovAR Dublin’, Jamie Cudden, Smart City Lead, Dublin City Council said, “DiscovAR offers a new way for visitors and locals to experience the capital city. Through our Smart Dublin programme, we are always thinking about how we can embrace new technologies to enhance how people engage with our Capital City. This app through its immersive AR technology is a new and fun way to explore the City’s culture and history and we see huge potential to expand this.”

The Dublin Discovery Trail app is part of a larger Smart Tourism strategy to invest in digital to transform Dublin’s tourism experience for how we tell the story and history of the city and was developed as part of the new Dublin City Council Tourism Strategy 2023-2028 – Innovation Pillar. Using new and immersive technologies, such as augmented reality, will help further position Dublin as a world-class tourism destination with this new digital experience and allow for further unique and tailored customer experiences that will keep the city relevant for tourists.

For more information on ‘DiscovAR’ and to download the app visit http://dublindiscoverytrails.com or search Dublin Discovery Trails on Apple App Store or Google Play..

Irish Developers WarDucks Edging Closer to Release of AR Game that Spurred €3.3 million funding

Ireland is a common sight in entertainment, particularly within the modern rise of fantasy movies and TV series. In gaming, however, there isn’t a large contingent of developers, studios, or even games set in Ireland. There are many within certain genres, but not an overly large count overall.

This is despite the presence of massive companies with strong ties to gaming, with Microsoft Ireland being the prime example of this. Still, there are some working their way up, with WarDucks being one of the more exciting up-and-coming prospects. As specialists in virtual reality games, the studio received a hefty sum in funding to spur their next augmented reality project.

Bringing the battles against Kaiju to the real world

WarDucks rose to prominence through their mostly PlayStation VR creations. Rollercoaster Legends, Rollercoaster Legends II: Thor’s Hammer, and Sneaky Bears all topped charts on the platform, while Sneak Bears Rollercoaster on Samsung Gear VR was a top seller. A few years ago, however, the South Dublin-based studio decided to make their next game with an AR core design.

The 2013-founded company has clearly impressed with its creations to date, with the development of their leap into AR receiving a hefty sum of €3.3 million in funding. The money was raised from EQT Ventures, Suir Valley Ventures, and some other investors. Helping the appeal of WarDucks has been the presence of gaming veterans who have worked on several smash-hit titles.

John Romero (Doom and Quake), Lawrence Schick (The Elder Scrolls Online), and Doug Kaufman (Civilization II) are all playing key roles in the development of the upcoming location-based AR mobile game. The game, which we now know to be Edge of Earth: Epic Monster War, is still in development, but a recent update proves that the first 4X Strategy title on mobile to use the real world is gradually closing in on a full launch.

Gameplay footage has emerged online for the in-development WarDuck game, showcasing the virtual base-building on the real-world map, monster combat, and the familiar time-based base-building mechanics. In mid-August of this year, the team launched live testing for the game in Ireland, the UK, and the Philippines, garnering over 1,000 downloads on the Play Store to help development. It’s currently on version 0.6.2.

More gaming in an Irish setting

 

Edge of Earth allows anyone in the world to make their surroundings the setting of a futuristic battle against monsters on Earth. Players in Dublin will be able to set up bases and defend the capital against the monsters that seek to destroy the city. So, for some, it can be classed as another game that uses Ireland as its setting or theme, made even better by it coming from WarDucks.

Other popular games that have placed Ireland into their virtual worlds in a more story and theme-driven way include the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla DLC Wrath of the Druids, which takes your Viking adventure from Britain to Ireland, as well as the Aground DLC map for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – a battleground on the Irish coast.

Of course, the most common use of the Irish theme and setting in gaming takes a more mythological approach, with creatures like the fabled leprechaun front and centre. In the online casino world, for example, Irish games with depictions of lucky charms and leprechauns always do well with players. Right now, it’s the progressive jackpot game Charms & Clovers that sits among the most popular of its type.

If the live testing goes well, Ireland can look forward to the full release of WarDucks’ intriguing real-world AR game, which might just raise the prestige of the Dublin developers by yet another tier. Until then, there are some other Irish-associated games to delve into, with Project Cars 2 and Tomb Raider Chronicles worth adding to the list.