Most people have heard about wireless charging technology by now, but most forays into the space require you to place your phone or gadget on a mat to get juiced. uBeam, a company that’s been honing their own unique wireless charging tech for the past three years is almost ready to debut their own business and consumer products that utilize sound waves.
The big deal about uBeam is their wireless ultrasound charging technology can charge your iPhone while it remains in your pocket. That’s right, all it needs is “line of sight” to your device to charge, so you can move about, albeit in a somewhat confined area.
Meredith Perry, uBeam co-founder, announced the company now has a fully functional prototype, and hopes to have consumer models within a year. No pricing was mentioned.
So how do you turn sound waves into electricity? A specialized charging station converts electricity into sound waves, which are then transmitted over ultrasound frequencies. A receiver attached to your iPhone obtains the ultrasound and then converts the signals into energy.
The line of sight aspect is certainly a limitation, as well as needing a receiver to convert the ultrasound back into electricity, but Perry feels the potential is huge and hopes it becomes a standard, such as wi-fi.
