Witricity
July 27th 2009 08:59
Some while ago there was an idea that we could have 'mats' on our computer desks that would do away with all those pernicious wires that clog up the underside of the average computer area. Well, I guess that's still in the pipeline, but it looks like it's been pipped at the post by a new idea, one that requires nothing visible at all....virtually.
This system exploits "resonance", an approach in which energy transfer becomes much more efficient when a certain frequency is applied. When two objects have the same resonant frequency, they exchange energy strongly without having an effect on other, surrounding objects. A basic version of this is the way in which wine glasses can be broken by a certain pitch of sound. But this resonance system will be much more reliable than the 'system' that breaks up the average wine glass.
Brought to fruition by the company Witricity, this approach exploits the resonance of low frequency electromagnetic waves. The system uses two coils, one embedded in the object needing power, and the other plugged into the mains. As soon as an object, such as a computer, is within range of the plugged-in coil, the computer begins to charge up. (Just as the best diet pills will immediately charge up the fat - one might say!)
There's no danger to people in the vicinity getting harmed by the resonances: the plugged-in coil will only interact with the object's coil. Humans don't resonate on the same wavelength.
Being somewhat electrically-challenged, I don't completely understand the ins and outs of this, but it's explained very well in the article by Jonathan Fildes, writing for the BBC News. He was at the demonstration of it that took place in Oxford during the TED Global conference. Read it here and watch the videos.
Here's one of them:
This system exploits "resonance", an approach in which energy transfer becomes much more efficient when a certain frequency is applied. When two objects have the same resonant frequency, they exchange energy strongly without having an effect on other, surrounding objects. A basic version of this is the way in which wine glasses can be broken by a certain pitch of sound. But this resonance system will be much more reliable than the 'system' that breaks up the average wine glass.
Brought to fruition by the company Witricity, this approach exploits the resonance of low frequency electromagnetic waves. The system uses two coils, one embedded in the object needing power, and the other plugged into the mains. As soon as an object, such as a computer, is within range of the plugged-in coil, the computer begins to charge up. (Just as the best diet pills will immediately charge up the fat - one might say!)
There's no danger to people in the vicinity getting harmed by the resonances: the plugged-in coil will only interact with the object's coil. Humans don't resonate on the same wavelength.
Being somewhat electrically-challenged, I don't completely understand the ins and outs of this, but it's explained very well in the article by Jonathan Fildes, writing for the BBC News. He was at the demonstration of it that took place in Oxford during the TED Global conference. Read it here and watch the videos.
Here's one of them:
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