I’ve never put $499 in my mouth before. I’ve never thought I needed to. Dyson, however, is trying to convince me otherwise.
The $499 CameraJet is the first AI-powered toothbrush with a camera built into its brush head.
In other words, it lets you livestream the inside of your mouth while you clean your teeth. It even offers feedback, like any good dentist.
Six years and 661 engineers. A 100k-pixel macro-lens camera. An “anti-gravity tank.” Yes, Dyson has put rather a lot into reinventing the toothbrush.
There was once a time when bristles were enough. Glasses only needed lenses. Fridges kept things cold. Headphones played music.
Increasingly, tech companies are putting cameras in everything. The CameraJet is not even tech’s first trip to the bathroom. Once upon a time, toilets just needed to flush.
Naturally, there is a subscription available, too. Dyson will happily keep you supplied with replacement brush heads, mouth rinse, and non-foaming toothpaste — lest a cloud of minty froth blind the camera. Other brands are available, though, so you are not — strictly speaking — locked into a toothpaste subscription.
The engineering, meanwhile, seems impressive. And, in the words of BI’s Katie Notopoulos: “Honestly, it looks very cool.”
That is Dyson’s trick: making eye-wateringly expensive personal-care gadgets that genuinely change the category. Here in the UK, the Ceramic Ultra Blue model has already sold out.
Not every Dyson invention lands, though. BI compiled a list of the company’s big successes and wild flops, including the strange case of its air-purifying headphones. Read it here.
Call it due diligence before you put a camera in your mouth.
