Love him or hate him, James Dyson has managed to invent and produce some brilliant products. After revolutionizing the humble vacuum cleaner by removing the need for a bag and making the task of drying one’s hands after visiting the bathroom a pleasure rather than a chore, Dyson and his engineers turned their attention to improving the design of the product which hasn’t changed in almost 120 years. The result: the bladeless Air Multiplier fan.

James Dyson has come in for heavy criticism in the U.K. in recent years. First, he decided to move the manufacture of his products from Britain to Malaysia and China in order to save money. Then he decided to accept a post with the Conservative party heading a taskforce looking into the future of technology. Which may be a good endeavor but does align him with one political party.

But all that other periphery stuff is soon forgotten when Dyson unveils a new product. This time around, it’s a desktop fan called the Air Multiplier. It’s big selling point is the distinct lack of blades which serves the dual purpose of preventing annoying airflow choppiness and being much safer for kids. And the design is also striking enough to wow adults.

The Air Multiplier uses the same technology that is at the heart of the Airblade hand-dryer, which are now installed in public toilet facilities throughout the U.K. The Air Multiplier delivers 405 liters of cool air every second without the slightest hint of a hiccup or change in the course or strength of airflow.

The fan is so-called because it uses both entrainment (sucking in more air through friction) and inducement (sucking in air from behind the machine) to increase to stream originally being pumped out from the machine. This all means that roughly 15 times more air is directed toward you than is actually thrown out by the device in the first place. Which means it’s very efficient.

The one problem facing the Air Multiplier is the price. The starting price in the U.K. is to be £199 ($300), which is 10 times that of an average desktop fan which uses the more traditional method for cooling us down on a hot day. So, one for the more affluent and design-conscious, I feel.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 2:39 am under Opinion, Science and technology, Technology.

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