Dysons $499 squirting AI camera toothbrush proves smart tech has officially gone too far

Dyson just unveiled its latest product: the Dyson CameraJet™, an AI-powered electric toothbrush and water flosser with onboard cameras, priced at $499.99. The smart, app-connected toothbrush-slash-endoscope launches on Sept. 8, but you can pre-order the beauty tech device right now.

The product, with its lightsaber-like hilt and clunky design, sounds to me like an April Fool's Day joke, and I don't know who this is for. The people aren't exactly crying out for $500 toothbushes right now.

Dyson CameraJet electric toothbrush $499.99 at Amazon
  Pre-order Here at Amazon Pre-order Here at Dyson

I have to ask: WTF is going on over at Dyson?

The English brand is known for its innovative designs. Dyson's Supersonic hair dryer was truly revolutionary, and I use one almost every day. Dyson is the company that somehow turned boring old vacuum cleaners into status symbols and created a futuristic, revolving, hydroponic strawberry farm. But in recent years, the company has had some misfires, and anecdotally, they seem to be getting more common. You might remember the Covid-era Dyson Zone, the dystopian headphones with a built-in air purifier. You might also remember when it was discontinued. We also found that the brand's latest robot vacuums were duds.

The Dyson CameraJet™ uses a macro camera and doubles as a dental endoscope. Credit: Dyson

Perhaps there is a market for Dyson oral care products, but the idea of a toothbrush that uses AI to look into all the nooks and crannies of my mouth and squirt "mouthrinse" into them gives me the heebie-jeebies. Another Mashable editor used the word "nightmare" to describe it.

I'm never going to download an app in order to use my toothbrush, and you can't make me.

Introducing the Dyson CameraJet™: What is it?

Dyson says it's been developing the CameraJet electric toothbrush for six years.

The short version: The toothbrush head includes a camera that identifies the gaps between your teeth in real-time and ejects a jet of cleansing water between your teeth to remove plaque.

For the long version, I'll quote the press release:

Credit: Dyson

Today, in Paris, James Dyson revealed an entirely new way to clean your teeth. The Dyson CameraJet™ is the only toothbrush with a camera powered by Gap Optical Targeting™ to identify gaps between teeth and precision-floss while you brush. Gap Optical Targeting™ analyzes 28 live images per second to identify and target gaps between teeth in real time, triggering a precision jet burst of mouthrinse where it is needed.

It is the result of six years of research, development, and engineering, challenging every aspect of conventional oral care. While others cannot find the gaps between teeth, CameraJet™ can.

How does the Dyson CameraJet™ electric toothbrush work?

You might think that your mouth is the absolute last place you'd want to place a 100,000-pixel macro lens camera. That is a reasonable thought! The toothbrush uses this camera to analyze 28 images per second. When the toothbrush's software detects a gap between your teeth, the device shoots a jet of water into it within 100 milliseconds. This allows for precision flossing as you brush your teeth.

The body of the smart, app-connected toothbrush contains a zero-gravity mouthrinse chamber. Credit: Dyson The toothbrush dispenses a jet of water within 100 milliseconds of detecting a gap between your teeth. Credit: Dyson

At the same time, Dyson says the toothbrush uses "variable sonic oscillation" so the bristles can penetrate and clean deeper than conventional sonic toothbrushes.

The toothbrush has a zero-gravity mouthrinse container, and it comes with a charging dock and travel case. Because it doubles as an electric flosser, the Dyson CameraJet™ has a larger body than most electric toothbrushes and, based on the photos, appears approximately lightsaber-sized.

How does AI factor into all of this?

The toothbrush comes with a charging dock and travel case. Credit: Dyson

Beauty tech and grooming brands have been using AI in their hardware for a few years now. I first noticed this trend in my pre-Mashable days, when I was reviewing grooming products for GQ. All of a sudden, beard trimmers and electric shavers didn't just cut your hair — they used artificial intelligence to automatically sense hair thickness and alter the motor power to optimize your trim. Dyson introduced similar technology in its hair dryers, such as the Supersonic Nural.

If this smart technology has improved the quality of my shave and beard trimming, I haven't noticed. These "smart" beauty devices have always felt to me more like a gimmick and an excuse to raise prices by $100.

You can easily picture the scene: A conference room full of branding experts making mid-six figures, telling each other they absolutely must introduce AI into their products to stay relevant and appeal to young people.

SEE ALSO: I found 4 Dyson Supersonic dupes that are almost as good as the real thing

Dyson also isn't the first to bring AI to the bathroom sink: Oral-B's iO Series 10 rechargeable toothbrush already uses the technology to track where you're brushing and offer real-time feedback on your technique — and it will set you back $399.99.

Per Dyson, the CameraJet™ has 16 million lines of code and a visual intelligence system trained on 470,000 dental images.

And while Dyson's whole brand is basically over-engineering ordinary devices (often for the better!), introducing AI into ordinary products isn't innovation so much as trend-chasing. I'll be happy to see the backside of this smart beauty trend.

I'm never going to download an app in order to use my toothbrush, and you can't make me.

Because, of course, the Dyson Camera Jet™ has an app.

"The Dyson CameraJet™ is Wi-Fi connected at 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connected," the press release states. "Its integrated camera is a high-quality endoscope, allowing users to see what their dentist sees through the live-viewing feature in the MyDysonT™ app."

But do you really want to see what your dentist sees? Does your dentist even want to see what your dentist sees?

Is the Dyson Camera Jet™ worth it?

Credit: Dyson

I have not reviewed this device, though I'd be open to trying it and being proven wrong. We've certainly seen some bizarre toothbrush designs in recent years, and I'll admit, I'm a poor flosser.

If, like me, you know your flossing game is weak and you don't mind spending $500 on a new squirting toothbrush, then you may come to a different conclusion than I have.

But I remain extremely skeptical of this particular Dyson invention.

You can pre-order the Dyson Camera Jet™ for $499.99 at the Dyson online store, Amazon, and other retailers; it's available in two colors, ceramic pink and ceramic ultra blue. The smart toothbrush will be officially released on Sept. 8.

Dyson CameraJet electric toothbrush $499.99 at Amazon
  Pre-order Here at Amazon Pre-order Here at Dyson