Wireless Energy

Here’s the coolest thing I’ve heard in a long time. According to an article on the BBC, US researchers are working on a system to transfer power without the need of wires. WiTricity (as this new system has been coined) using the principle of low-frequency electromagnetic resonance to transfer energy from a charging device to one that needs power. And because the resonance is predominantly magnetic, it’s perfectly safe to organic tissue and can be deployed anywhere it is needed (though some people still wonder about whether it will be a health risk). The technology is still in it’s infancy, so you wouldn’t use it to power your laptop yet, however the demonstration the BBC article talks about proves it’s a viable alternative to wired power.

This is an interesting idea following on from my post yesterday about iPhonomics, a concept that states our use of technology is bounded by the power capabilities of the device we are using. If wireless energy is possible, I predict that after the initial pain and cost of implementing this, charging your devices will become ubiquitous and one day, people will still thinking about it; in the same way we stop thinking about how strong our mobile signal is. We’ll just expect it to be there.

4 comments

  1. …we stop thinking about how strong our mobile signal is…

    You aren’t saying you had mobile signal everywhere in Malta are you?

    I’m thinking about solar power more and more these days. Let’s have an outdoor internet cafe where the umbrellas are made of photovolteics and the power is sent by wireless means to the patrons’ laptops.

  2. Very interesting. Though I would also worry about health risks. The idea of electricity zooming through the air, and getting in the way of it, is scary. 🙂

  3. I checked into wireless from my cell phone carrier. They don’t have it for my desktop only my laptop. They need to get with the times! I can’t even imagine this new wireless you are talking about.

    My sons college has wireless all over the campus. I wonder how they do that.

  4. @Martin: All I mean is that most of the time you don’t tend to think about your signal anymore. You just expect it to be there. When you turn on your car radio you expect to find the channel you want to listen to.

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