Wireless power has the potential of seamlessly powering up electrical devices. This propagation of electricity seems to be as easy as data being transmitted through the air. However, existing solutions are limited to near contact distances.
Technology enthusiasts have been hankering for updates in wireless charging technology and will be pleased to learn that Disney's living room prototype provides just that kind of power.
Disney Research, touted to deliver scientific and technological innovation, has created a prototype of a room. This prototype is capable of providing ubiquitous wireless charging to all the devices present in the room.
How Does The Tech Work?
Disney's living room system deploys an entire room's ceiling and walls with aluminum panels and a long copper pole is placed in the center of the room, containing a ring of capacitors. This distribution ensures that the room is uniformly filled with a magnetic field.
The capacitors in the copper pole are connected to a single generator present outside the room and it releases a tone at a specific frequency. Researchers revealed that the system operates with a technology, called quasistatic cavity resonance (QSCR), capable of generating a magnetic field.
How Is It Useful?
A room fitted with such technology would be able to simultaneously charge several devices, such as smartphones, lamps, fans, and an RC car, regardless of their position inside the room.
Moreover, with this tech in hand, one can potentially charge their devices even when they are several feet away from the charging point. This development is far superior to the wireless charging mats which are currently available in the markets.
Disney Research reported that several tests were conducted with the prototype, and revealed that the technology is capable of delivering power to small coil receivers in virtually any position in the prototype room.
Incidentally, the power would not be obstructed by any furniture in the room. Per the location of the object in the room, researchers estimated the efficiency level to be between 40 and 95 percent.
Safety Issues
The technology is still in the nascent stages and would need a lot of fine tuning before it can be mass produced for consumer use.
The researchers have stated that it is best to remain at least 0.46 meters away from the copper pole, as the human body is not capable of absorbing harmful levels of energy.
Moreover, they have to disconnect the prototype if not being used. Why? As it would be harmful to continuously use it since the power is stored in the room.
Disney Research has shared that 1,900 watts is the preferable limit of power and that too if the same amount is being used by the devices in the room.
Check out the video of the technology in action below.
