Here you are, sitting in front of the gate from which you’ll board your flight that will take you back home in a couple of hours. You’ve dropped the reading of your book and decided to kill the remaining time watching a movie on your netbook. But you just realize with horror that it only has 15% of remaining battery ! You then search with frenzy for your A/C adapter cable you stored somewhere between your boxer shorts and your socks… and here it is! Hello Dexter, here I come!
You just did not realize though that you would have to look for a plug first, which are often scarce in most airports (check this anecdote “1,000 forks when all you need is a spoon…”)
Your eyes gives a quick 360° around you and then you notice, in the distance, the aim of your search.
Too bad, someone’s already using it.
You though decide that two or three episodes of your favorite serie are worth a few words of apologies to negotiate your right to access the electric network. The man is not a bad person and understands your urge. And while he unplugs his adapter it breaks to your eyes and mind that you forgot a small detail: you are currently standing in the lobby of a French airport, and of course, you don’t have any international plug adapter with you.
So, farewell for good netbook and hello again paper book.
We could call this a scenario. Unfortunately this kind of story still happens way too often. Being mobile is still an adventure today.
But there is some hope to solve this issue for good, brought by a group of MIT scientists and their solution: WiTricity.
WiTricity is working on a wireless power solution that can send power over short distances, thereby reducing the need for wires and cables. The system uses resonant magnetic coupling – essentially a form of radio transmission – that can send enough power to charge cellphones or run a television.
The actual technology is still a ways of – near field charging will probably appear before this does – but it’s nice to know someone is trying.
According to the LA Times tech blog:
The company showed how a transmitting unit, which could be placed in a wall, could power a television set several feet away. The chief executive of the company, Eric Giler, also showed how the system could wirelessly charge a G1 cellphone equipped with an antenna unit so small it could fit inside the phone case.
The company is currently attempting to productize the system for mass consumption.
A very comprehensive review of this technology has been shared last year on Popsci.com. But what then (a year and a half ago) still belonged to SciFi is about to turn into a reality.
But if you have this solution implemented in your home, just make sure that you carefully dry your hands and hair before leaving your bathroom.
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It would be *awesome* if they offered this in airports and cafes. Nothing is more annoying than the scenario you described and we all know to well.
@ Christian: You’re just right! Searching for electric plugs in public places often turns into something similar as a quest for the Holly Grail. Let’s hope that this technology of WiTricity will get enough subsidies to turn into a day to day reality.