Imagine a house with no electrical outlets. You bring in a new blender, flick the switch, and presto!, electricity flows and the you have instant daiquiris! At least what CNN is reporting in a recent online report.
The idea is infrastructure could be created in a house to create a giant electromagnetic field, strong enough to power light bulbs and appliances. A new startup has been created to bring us this wireless "resonance" technology, WiTricity.
There's no question that placing an energy consuming device in a magnetic field induces an electric current. If it's strong enough, power will flow. The folks at WiTricity claim its perfectly safe, stating the electricity is the same as we are experiencing in our WiFi routers, only a lot stronger.
In a WiTricity home, your smartphone will recharge in your pocket, lightbulbs will automatically come to life without being plugged in, and your TV will work without a mess of cords. Your electric car (we'll all have those soon as well) will charge in your garage without being plugged in. I know it sounds like a joke, but I am not making this up.
The company's first application is in the medical field, recharging a heart pump implanted into a patient's chest. This makes perfect sense, considering the options of operating to replace a device next to the heart, or leading a power cord from the body to the wall socket. (Ok, now I am trying to be funny.)
The challenge, CNN reports, is the limited distance the power can travel. It also seems to me that living around a constant electromagnetic field - the old EMF issue - will raise more questions and concerns about health. However for now, limited applications that get electricity to places where it's hard to attach a plug - like inside a body - is promising.
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