So the same company that birthed the loveable Micky Mouse have now devised a method for wirelessly powering an entire room.
In other words, Disney have created a room that when entered, will automatically begin powering devices such as your phone.
This kind of wizardry has been always been a dream due to a number of technical obstacles which are still kinda there, but proving the technique is actually workable is certainly exciting.
According to a paper published in the journal Plos One, the method outputs about 1,900 watts of energy at an efficiency of 40 – 95 percent, depending on the position. It sounds impressive, but are you ready for the list of caveats? There’s a few.
In order to achieve such a feat, the room needs to be purpose-built for wireless power. The walls are aluminium panels and a big copper pipe is positioned right int he middle, which isn’t exactly aesthetically pleasing.
A section of the pole is removed and replaced with 15 capacitors that set the resonant frequency. A weird-looking drive coil also has to sit next to the pole. You can get the techy details of how it works from the video below. It even features an orb because objectively, orbs are cool and very ~science~.
Is it safe? Maybe. The 1,900 watts that’s delivered by the room, according to US federal guidelines, falls within the acceptable energy the human body can absorb before becoming a hazard. But, if the devices within the room are not using that energy, it can be dangerous.
Oh, and you can’t stand closer than 46cm to the copper pole. Maybe just rope it off or whatever.
We still have a little way to go before you’ll see wirelessly powered rooms in the wild, but it’s an impressive feat, nonetheless.
Source & Photo: Disney.
