Intel demonstrated a wireless electric power system that could revolutionize modern life by eliminating chargers, wall outlets and eventually batteries all together by 2050. Intel chief technology officer Justin Rattner demonstrated a Wireless Energy Resonant Link at Intel’s 2008 developer’s forum.
During the demo electricity was sent wirelessly to a lamp on stage, lighting a 60 watt bulb that uses more power than a typical laptop computer. Most importantly, the electricity was transmitted without zapping anything or anyone that got between the sending and receiving units. “The trick with wireless power is not can you do it; it’s can you do it safely and efficiently,” according to Intel researcher Josh Smith. “It turns out the human body is not affected by magnetic fields; it is affected by elective fields. So what we are doing is transmitting energy using the magnetic field not the electric field.”
Examples of potential applications include airports, offices or other buildings that could be rigged to supply power to laptops, mobile telephones or other devices toted into them. The technology could also be built into plugged in computer components, such as monitors, to enable them to broadcast power to devices left on desks or carried into rooms, according to Mr. Smith.
- Duracell, Energizer, Texas Instruments and Motorola Mobility in Attendance at the International Wireless Power Summit (prweb.com)
- British Start-Up Working to Bring Wireless Charging to the Racetrack (wheels.blogs.nytimes.com)