Hands-on with Dyson's hurricane of a hand dryer, the Airblade

Although James Dyson may not actually have been the first person to "reinvent" the unhygienic ol' hand dryer, his company's Airblade does seem to be the most powerful option out there for getting the wet stuff off (save for FIU's Wall of Wind), so folks are naturally concerned that its 400mph blast of air will cut through their tender skin like a laser. Well fear not, frequenters of public restrooms, because Popular Science has gone head hand-to-head with one of the new blowers, risking life and limb to make sure that your next trip to the bathroom won't be even more dangerous than usual. Oddly enough, the PopSci guinea pig tester didn't actually use the machine to dry his mitts, but rather chose a few more visually-expressive experiments to evaluate the Airblade's power (and safety). In the linked video, you can check out what happens to a human hand under the effects of the Dyson (spoiler: it dimples the skin, but doesn't leave the bloody welts that some were expecting), along with its ability to blast away tiny Post-It notes and completely pwn a sheet of newspaper. Just remember, we're not responsible for what happens when you get caught by a business owner making a mess of his / her restroom during your attempts at replicating these experiments, so proceed with caution.

[Thanks, Drakonen]

[Alex @ Sep 28th 2009 6:12PM]

Had the honor of trying one of these things in Macau. Pure magic.

[narco @ Oct 15th 2006 2:26PM]

I'm still convinced that Dyson is the real origins of Skynet. In Terminator 2, a person with the last name "Dyson" created a learning computer, and thus, Skynet was born.

Today, a guy with the last name "Dyson" has created a series of vacuum cleaners and now hand driers, more powerful than anything on the market. With robotic vacuum technology such as the Roomba, there's no denying the links between today's vacuum cleaners and armageddon.
I will work on the complete analysis and post it on my blog at a later date.

Fishes,
narco.

[Henry @ Oct 15th 2006 4:32PM]

"In 2006, Miles Bennett Dyson was the Director of Special Projects, making him the man directly responsible for Judgement Day."

What's next? A neural-net processor? A learning computer?

[Farris @ Oct 15th 2006 2:28PM]

Just thought I would let you guys know that I got a floating ad on the main site. I know that Hackaday is asking users to report such things, so I figured I'd report it here, too.

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 15th 2006 2:36PM]

It's only up to us to survive drying our hands.

Besides if they're ever gonna make one of those grandiose spheres of his we're gonna need alot of people.

And brethren and cistern, they'd all better be washing their hands.


Niven ring for me any time, as long as I get the Quantum 3 upgrade!

Thanks Larry!

[John Stracke @ Oct 15th 2006 8:28PM]

"Besides if they're ever gonna make one of those grandiose spheres of his" -- wrong Dyson. That was Freeman Dyson; this is James Dyson. No relation, as far as I can see.

[Doc. @ Oct 15th 2006 3:00PM]

I generally don't stick my hand into anything with the word "blade" in it's name. But, that's just me.

-Doc.

[KYDS3K @ Oct 15th 2006 3:02PM]

shouldn't that be "hands-in"? =)

[Michael @ Oct 15th 2006 3:19PM]

What's a floating ad?

/Adblock rules, ads drool

[Derrick @ Oct 15th 2006 5:36PM]

A floating ad is one that follows you down the page as you scroll, remaining in the same general area of the screen. I saw it too and I'm using Adblock.

[Smacksmackums @ Oct 15th 2006 3:19PM]

I'm not all that convinced that it will actually be more sanitary. Just look at it. You know that people's hands are going to be ALL OVER either side of those small hand holes. Gross. Germs are just going to live there.

The hand holes are just too small. The fat guy that just got done taking a huge dump and only splashing a bit of water on his hands is going to get his fat, wet, smelly wrists all over the edges, just making it more difficult for you.

It's going to be like a carnival game where you have to keep your hands in the slot with a 400 mile an hour wind driving against them and not let them touch the sides.

[Patiwat @ Oct 15th 2006 3:21PM]

These things have been around forever in Japan.

[James ferretti @ Oct 15th 2006 7:08PM]

Yeah, i'm not sure how they claim to be so innovative, they have them in pretty much every public bathroom in Japan. Saying that, they do work really well, the air drags the water down from your hands as you pull them out of the gap very effectivly.

[spil @ Oct 15th 2006 4:07PM]

How long until someone straps this to their back and jumps off a building, lives to tell about it... and becomes the most watched video on youtube.

Good job, engadget, your on Popsci's favorite website list.

w00t, tenth post!

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 15th 2006 4:54PM]

Freeman Dyson could kick his ass any day.

[G @ Oct 15th 2006 5:23PM]

I know it's a blog, but isn't the video a little "Woah, dude! Check this out!" for a major publication like Popular Science? Actually, I haven't read it in years, so maybe not.

[Finished Law School @ Oct 15th 2006 5:22PM]

The gap for your hands should be larger.

[Jason @ Oct 15th 2006 11:01PM]

I'm using Adblock Plus with Filterset.g and saw no such ad.

[Like I Is @ Oct 15th 2006 5:41PM]

What's wrong with dang paper towels?

[Patrick @ Oct 15th 2006 6:26PM]

as soon as i see one of these in the bathroom, i'm going to do these things:

1. finish urinating and instead of shaking, running to one of these.
2. claim the machine is a new type urinal and take a wiz in one.
3. poop in one.
4. barf in one.

can u imagine....human excrament flying at 400MPH!

[Brandon Humphries @ Oct 15th 2006 6:48PM]

I'm just waiting for some jackass to stick his penis in one. Much laughing and tears will ensue.

[pyro @ Oct 15th 2006 7:12PM]

is youtube down for anyone else? the video and the youtube site wont work.

[Jeff Keller @ Oct 15th 2006 8:07PM]

The floating ad comes from the Microsoft AdCenter banner at the top of the page. I had the same problem on my own site.

[Bob @ Oct 15th 2006 8:24PM]

http://www.exceldryer.com/products/xlerator.asp

These are pretty mean.

[pyro @ Oct 15th 2006 10:27PM]

ya, ive used those before and from the looks of the video, the xlerator leaves a bigger dent in your skin.

[sevenout @ Oct 15th 2006 8:52PM]

The most obvious thing: SOMEONE IS GOING TO PEE IN THE DRYER. Either by accident or on purpose and then the whole bathroom will smell like superheated pee! Secondly, the whole purpose of the dryer is to cut down on the spread of bacteria.

Lastly, there are already "high speed" hand dryers that do the same thing without having to put your hands into something and get germs all over them.

[Rivendale @ Oct 15th 2006 9:53PM]

bathrooms at Disney World have had extremely fast hand dryers for a few years. They "dimple" the skin and dry your hands in about 3 seconds... I don't know how fast they are, but they're pretty fun to use...

[Revrant2394 @ Oct 15th 2006 10:50PM]

"I thought of this test, and I am not a moron.

I wanted to use something like maple syrup, which would be visible when blown off, but the Airblade in the video is the only prototype in the country. They weren't wild about the idea.

So I used the stickies to illustrate how fast the air was moving. In the first shot, where you see my hands in there sans stickies, my hands were wet. After removing them, they were no longer wet. So Denver Morgan: You think of a better test and I will go back and do it.

And yeah, Stephen, they've had similar units, primarily the Mitsubishi Jet Towel, in Japanese restrooms for a number of years. The Dyson differs in that it filters the air before it shoots the air out.

Next complaint?

Posted by: The guy in the video, Joe Brown | October 15, 2006 at 11:47 AM"

Mmm.

[Michiel @ Oct 16th 2006 8:31AM]

There is nothing new about this thing.

The are toilets in the subway stations here in Taiwan that have these things. Office buildings, public spaces, shopping malls, you find them everywhere.

Nothing special, move along.

[Pal @ Oct 16th 2006 12:01PM]

As others have said, yes; these are everywhere in Japan. I love them! It's a pain to use the hand dryers in the U.S. -- it's especially depressing to use one in the airport after flying back. What a difference! Saves a lot of money, I'm sure: less paper, less frequent trash can changing which leads to other areas of the store/restaurant being attended to, etc.

Ah, the future.

[David @ Oct 16th 2006 12:50PM]

these things have been around forever.

yet, slap a dyson name on it and market it out to americans and the wooo factor is increased a million times. it's sad, really.

[James @ Oct 16th 2006 2:13PM]

This thing is supposed to spray a fine mist of iodine into the airstream, correct?
That should be enough to kill off any nasties living inside the thing, but of course, does nothing for the germs living on the outside.

[mueller @ Oct 20th 2006 9:38AM]

I tried a similar drier (maybe the same?) at a club in China last week - imagine my surprise when a spray of water comes off my hands and soaks my face. Word to the wise - it will dry your hands something fierce, but you better hand some long arms...

[Michael @ Nov 10th 2006 7:42PM]

I came across one called the Xlerator in North Carolina, which had my hands looking like I was on one of those G-force simulation machines.

http://www.exceldryer.com/