Imagine being able to charge your laptop, phone or tablet from a distance. That’s the promise offered by WiTricity, a new wireless charging technology developed by two professors at MIT.
WiTricity uses a technique the professors first demonstrated in 2007, which makes use of natural resonant frequencies. This is the phenomenon whereby a wine glass will shatter if an opera singer hits a certain note, because objects resonating at their natural frequency can take in much more energy. Since it uses a power source and capture device with similar natural frequencies, WiTricity’s system enables faster, more efficient power transfer over greater distances than existing wireless charging systems that rely on electromagnetic induction alone.
There’s no word yet as to when WiTricity might be available as a consumer product, but Dell has already announced its next generation of laptops will support the tech, and other manufacturers are expected to follow suit.
