A potential 21st-century replacement for the fan is the Dyson Air Multiplier. It was created by James Dyson, who is known for bringing cutting-edge engineering to everyday products, such as the bagless vacuum cleaner.
The bladeless fan drew inspiration from another Dyson invention, the typhoon-like touchless hand drier seen in many public restrooms.
"So you've got huge amount of air being drawn in from behind it and once you come off here, you get air drawn in this way," Dyson said. "So what you're doing is multiplying the original airflow here 16 times.
"Blades chop the airflow up as they deliver it to you and they turn it in to chunks of air and buffet you with it and make it very unpleasant," Dyson said. "Whereas [my fan], because it's got no blades, delivers smooth air to you. It's like being out in a smooth breeze."
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Dyson Air Multiplier
Adam Balkin explains how this new fan is leaving more of a green footprint and helping others stay cool.
 
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Developers like to point out the Dyson Air Multiplier is not a threat to fingers and easier to clean than a regular fan.
Paying $300 for a fan may be a tough sell, but Dyson said it could also replace your air conditioner.
"Air conditioning is recirculated air, so it's not very healthy," Dyson said. "This, if you open the windows, it's much healthier.
This cools you anyway because it evaporates the moisture around your skin and gives you a refrigerated affect and it uses 1/50th of the electricity as an air conditioner uses and no HFC emissions from it. So it's a much greener thing to use."
The Dyson Air Multiplier is now available, the 10-inch model for $300 and the 12-inch model for $330.
