Did you know that Britain is a world leader when it comes to innovation? Some of the world's fastest cars, cleverest gadgets and even the technology inside this phone are made here. Britain is full of new ideas and cutting-edge technology and I'm hoping to see some of it.
The British love gadgets. And when it comes to innovators, James Dyson is world-class. He invented the bagless vacuum cleaner and this is his headquarters, where all the magic happens.
It took five years, over 5,000 prototypes and a lot of hard work and imagination to design Dyson’s Bagless Vacuum Cleaner.
…..
Tom Crawford is a senior engineer.
Richard: How do Dyson push the boundaries of innovation and technology?
Tom: We employ over 650 engineers and scientists to look at every aspect of our machine. We develop our own motors. We have microbiologists, fluid experts, noise experts, to really optimise every aspect of the performance of these machines.
Richard: How do you meet the needs of the international market?
Tom: Well, we sell our machines in over 50 different countries, so we have a really good understanding of what they want and what they need and, for example, for Japan, we know that their rooms are much smaller and we design a product to suit their demands, which is much smaller than the European models.
Richard: Excellent. Can you show me round your latest technology?
Tom: Yeah, please.
…..
Richard: Ah. I've used one of these before. Yeah, they're excellent.
Tom: Dyson Airblade is the fastest, most hygienic hand dryer. It uses a Dyson digital motor which rotates at over 5 times the speed of a Formula 1 engine. It pushes air out up to 400 miles an hour and dries your hands in under 10 seconds.
Richard: Awesome. What about this here?
Tom: OK. Experts in moving air. We've looked at the domestic fan and we've produced a bladeless fan which pulls air through the middle. It's very smooth, non-buffeting airflow and very safe.
Richard: That's excellent, isn't it? Ooh, it doubles up nicely as a hairdryer, too... How are you going to go into the future for Dyson?
Tom: Well, I can't tell you what our secrets are, obviously.
Richard: Go on!
Tom: No! But we've got a very exciting plan of products for the next 10 years, a plan of research for the next 20 years and we're also, obviously, looking to launch fantastically exciting products, like the new Dyson Digital Slim. Now this uses another Dyson digital motor, which is very lightweight and powerful.
Richard: No cord?
Tom: No cord. Cordless. Batteries. Have a go.
Richard: Got to. Got to have a go. Smooth. Loving that. Tell you what, Tom, thank you very much for showing me round. While I'm here, do you want me to just quickly... um...?
Tom: Yeah, just tidy up for us.
Richard: Feel free. No worries. Thank you. Cheers.
Tom: Thanks. OK.
Comments
Great content. I don't suppose these videos are downloadable in any way, are they? The place I teach doesn't have any internet access, and I would love to play them the Innovation is Great vid.
Hello Adrienne,
Thank you for your comment - it's nice to know that our site is appreciated. I'm afraid the videos are not downloadable, for technical and legal reasons. You can, however, give your students the address to the relevant page and they can watch the video themselves that way (for homework, for example). Registration and all of the materials on LearnEnglish are entirely free and your students would no doubt benefit from having access to the site. I know several teachers, for example, who ask their students to register for the site and then set some pages here for homework.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Great videos, very professional, and even though they are designed to be used by the student on his/ her own, they work well in class with both one to ones and groups.
Great technologies. I always have a dream that I will invent something before 50. Something like a wind turbine from the "Green is great". Loving that.
Invent this website is also a great innovation for the British Council and The Learning English Team :). Cheers!
Thanks, Anh Quân!
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team
hi everyone
i do really like this video as it talk about technology and innovation
i am really exciting about knowing that there are some many gadgets which make life easier and environment cleaner . i am very interested about dayson's products .they are very amazing and helpful with new design and new ideas which i guess they will lower the using of electricity . i hope that i can own one of them one day and wish from you to give me a lot more information about dayson's products how they are working
what about the to create a towel made of any material that get dry as you clean your hands and of course is also hygienic.
Why I can't watch the video?
Hello kieu trang!
Sorry to hear you're having problems! We know that some users in Vietnam have had problems recently, and we're trying to find out what the problem is. So I can help you, could you answer these questions?
Also, we are trying a different method for showing videos on the site. Please go to our new episodes of Word on the Street – say, Shakespeare - and try the link that says “Can't see video? Click here!”. Let me know if you can see that video OK.
Let's see if we can sort out your issue!
Jeremy Bee
The LearnEnglish Team
is it ok to be downloaded? if it is so, how should i do it? tq
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