Wireless Power without the Battery

This technology is really nothing new. Its just based on the basic physics concept of resonance. When two entities are vibrating at the same frequency, they exchange energy, even if they are not in direct line of sight. This means with a transmitter on one end and a receiver on the other, energy could be transfered to an object. As the energy builds, it produces usable voltage. So a light bulb can be lit from across the room without being directly connected to a power source. All that is needed is a transmitter and a receiver. Its the same idea as the opera singer shattering glass with her voice.

So this concept could be brought to the wireless world that is becoming more and more prevalent. Recent studies have been done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and are showing a 40% efficiency rate with the wireless power transmission, but could become more efficient as time goes on.

Ideally a laptop could be powered from across entire rooms, regardless of what obstructions were between the transmitter and receiver, by being charged constantly without being plugged in. That means laptops could be charging while in range of the transmitter at all times. If the laptop stayed in the room, then it might not even need a battery. This could end the use of having to charge laptops by plugging them into an outlet, it could even replace batteries. No batteries would be cheaper and devices such as laptops could be made lighter and smaller.

Some people have presented the caution that broadcasting energy to power electric devices could in turn have a negative impact on people's health. Powerful radiation can be hazardous to people's health, but with the use of resonance coupling, wavelengths produced would be longer, which would be no more harmful than being exposed to radio waves.

This will be an interesting technology to keep an eye on in the years to come.