Confused by Dyson's vacuum names? Me too – so I asked a Dyson engineer to explain

A new flagship Dyson vacuum has recently been unveiled. It follows the Gen5detect, so maybe it'll be a Gen6? Or a Gen5 something else? No – it's the Dyson V16 Piston Animal.

That's all the more confusing because the model before the Gen5 was the V15 Detect. In fact, all the previous Dyson stick vacuums of the past decade or so have been V-somethings (although there have been further anomalies within that structure, as I'll get into shortly). If you're trying to figure out which is the best Dyson vacuum for your needs, this irregular naming system can be a big hindrance.

During a one-to-one interview with Dyson engineer Steph Parker, I decided to try to get to the bottom of things.