Dyson just recently announced plans to expand beyond its trademark vacuums, but it turns out that the brand has been working on non-vacuum prototypes all along.
Dyson, the British luxury small appliance manufacturer, is best known for the colorful cyclonic filters it uses on its vacuum cleaners. But it wants the world to know it's been working on other kinds of products, too, revealing three never-before-seen prototypes to show off its innovation expertise.
Is it coincidental timing that Dyson is offering up this broader view of its R&D operations, less than 24 hours before news of an anticipated expansion by Apple into smart home tech? The projects listed here aren't exact corollaries to, say, a set of smart light bulbs, but as Google, Facebook, and other tech companies start expanding their horizons, why not one more?
These Dyson inventions didn't make it to market (pictures)
Earlier this year, we reported on Dyson's $8 million investment in a robotics research lab and its plans for a large-scale $420 million R&D expansion at its headquarters in Wiltshire, UK. Growing its R&D branch will give Dyson the opportunity to focus even more attention on its side projects. And while we haven't heard specifics just yet, Dyson decided to excite our anticipation by sharing a few of its pre-R&D-expansion concepts. These three never-before-seen Dyson prototypes didn't advance beyond the concept stage, but might just give us an idea of what to expect from the vacuum-maker-turned-tech-innovator in the future.