James Dyson, having used the ball before in one of his designs is turning to it once again. This time rather than a wheelbarrow to spread the load, the inventor has turned the idea to his vacuum cleaner range.

The new model called the DC15 The Ball is based around a ball rather than the two standard wheels for getting around your living room.

The idea is to speed up cleaning by getting rid of the forwards backwards motion you normally associate with cleaning.

The new vacuum cleaner will be in the shops from next week and cost £319.99. It has over 187 patents and taken four years in development.

“We've spent years trying to make vacuum cleaners better.” Said Dyson at the unveiling to a packed room of journalists in London.

Like previous models the new unit will come in three varieties; standard, animal and allergy.

Dyson also commented at the press conference that the company is still working on a automated robot model of its vacuum cleaner, but that it still wasn't ready to show yet. The company unveiled a robotic version of its vacuum cleaner four years ago in Paris, but since then the trail has gone cold.

>> Dyson - Official website of Dyson