Product news: British industrial design brand Dyson has launched a combined tap and hand dryer so hands can be both washed and dried without leaving the sink. 

Infrared sensors in the Dyson Airblade Tap pinpoint the positions of the user's hands and release water from the tap, before two high-velocity sheets of unheated clean air are released to scrape water off hands and leave them dry in 12 seconds.

As with the earlier Airblade hand dryers, the system forces air through tiny apertures at 692 kilometres per hour, passing it through a HEPA filter to remove 99% of bacteria from the air first.

Made from an anti-corrosion stainless steel that's normally used for the construction of boats, the new product is powered by a new 16000 W motor that accelerates from 0 to 90,000 RPM in less than 0.7 seconds. The motor took seven years to develop at a cost of £26.9 million.

Founder of the company James Dyson said: “Using complex computer modelling Dyson engineers have developed a high performance digital motor. The Dyson digital motor self-adjusts 6,000 times a second to maintain optimum efficiency to create high velocity sheet of air that dries hands quickly and hygienically.”

The new motor has also been applied to updated versions of the Dyson Airblade V hand dryer, which is now 60% smaller, and the Dyson Airblade MK2 hand dryer, which has had 1.1 kg of material removed.

Industrial designer James Dyson founded the Dyson brand in 1970, when he invented the first bag-less vacuum cleaner. In recent years the company has launched the Air Multiplier, a fan with no blades, which he discusses with Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs in a podcast we recorded in 2010.

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