Humidifiers relieve the dorkiest of afflictions, like chapped lips or dry sinuses, and most of us would sooner deal with those than furnish a room with a device that looks like it fell out of a hospital utility closet. For those of us with interior design concerns and the occasional bloody nose, it’s time to turn to the brand that made vacuum cleaners cool. Dyson hasn’t quite managed the same trick with humidifiers, but they’ve gotten damn close.
Never a company to half-ass anything, Dyson went through 643 prototypes and spent nearly 60.4 million during the humidifier development process. The resulting knee-high polycarbonate monolith has hidden fans in the base silently send hydrated air up through the oval and out to the room. To prevent bacteria from forming, the three-gallon tank on the bottom has an ultraviolet light that zaps the water so only purified vapor reaches your skin and respiratory system. With the included remote you can select one of its ten power air-flow speeds, set the sleep timer if you want to nod off, or just let it run — a full tank lasts 18 hours. US pricing hasn’t been announced, but wintertime chapstick buyers should start saving: in Japan, the humidifier will sell for 59,800 yen, or about $560. It arrives next year, in fall 2015. [$TBD; dyson.com]