4 ms·

What could you do with this? A small drone that hangs in the air indefinitely?

crowbahr 10y ago
Unteathered completely wireless vr springs to mind as a potential advancement in the tech. Depends on how much the headsets draw can be reduced by with foveated rendering.
- glitch003 10y ago
  The article says they can supply 1900 watts. All modern VR headsets consume a fraction of that.
  - crowbahr 10y ago
    I mean they can, yes, at a maximum. The article says "80% of the room’s 54 m^3 total volume being able to deliver wireless power to a receiver at over of 40% efficiency" which means it's 760 watts of uncertain power (because it can drop off further than that). That's more in the range of high power computers... which I guess wouldn't be a concern. So this could totally be used for a HMD already. I wonder if it interferes at all with data transmission protocols that are used for wireless on the currently available HMDs...
MrQuincle 10y ago
Nice idea. + A small sphere drone with a dusting cloth around it to vacuum things. + Never charge a remote control anymore. + Knowing if someone is present by sensors in the floor, furniture, etc. + Automated valves on the heaters. + Charging locks (not requiring wires should be better w.r.t. security). + Easier light placements. They can be put in any cabinet (where it is normally dark, but you don't want to put wires). + Blinds, curtains control + Speakers integrated in couches / chairs. Perfectly located. Vibrations etc. is also cool as experience. + Clothing. So called smart "shoes", "belts", "umbrellas", etc. only hinges on wireless charging taking off.
- beamatronic 10y ago
  Thanks! I left out a few words - I specifically was thinking about what Disney Imagineers might use this for at a Disney park. Are they developing some new tech for use in a new land, perhaps? [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Land https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Land
bobbles 10y ago
A whole room of disney animatronics that are completely wireless and battery powered for crazy interactive experiences would be pretty cool
david-given 10y ago
A huge swarm of flying drone manipulators in a manufacturing facility. There are already demos of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnkMyfQ5YfY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnkMyfQ5YfY ...but drones use so much power that it's unsustainable beyond demos. Beaming power to them suddenly makes this useful because you can keep them flying indefinitely. I'll predict that if Disney actually have this working beyond a prototype, we'll see demos of drone swarms building complex objects out of children's bricks within a year, and prototypes of tool-wielding drones actually doing assembly within another.
- bane 10y ago
  It also increases the weight of the payload they can move around since they wouldn't have batteries (unless the weight of the receiving coils overwhelms that).
gene-h 10y ago
1.9 kilowatts is a sizable amount of power. In comparison a DJI phantom 4 consumes about 175 watts[0]. One could probably keep a decently large drone in the air indefinitely. [0]http://www.drone-world.com/dji-phantom-4-specs http://www.drone-world.com/dji-phantom-4-specs

Unteathered completely wireless vr springs to mind as a potential advancement in the tech. Depends on how much the headsets draw can be reduced by with foveated rendering.

glitch003 10y ago
The article says they can supply 1900 watts. All modern VR headsets consume a fraction of that.
- crowbahr 10y ago
  I mean they can, yes, at a maximum. The article says "80% of the room’s 54 m^3 total volume being able to deliver wireless power to a receiver at over of 40% efficiency" which means it's 760 watts of uncertain power (because it can drop off further than that). That's more in the range of high power computers... which I guess wouldn't be a concern. So this could totally be used for a HMD already. I wonder if it interferes at all with data transmission protocols that are used for wireless on the currently available HMDs...

MrQuincle 10y ago

Nice idea. + A small sphere drone with a dusting cloth around it to vacuum things. + Never charge a remote control anymore. + Knowing if someone is present by sensors in the floor, furniture, etc. + Automated valves on the heaters. + Charging locks (not requiring wires should be better w.r.t. security). + Easier light placements. They can be put in any cabinet (where it is normally dark, but you don't want to put wires). + Blinds, curtains control + Speakers integrated in couches / chairs. Perfectly located. Vibrations etc. is also cool as experience. + Clothing. So called smart "shoes", "belts", "umbrellas", etc. only hinges on wireless charging taking off.

beamatronic 10y ago
Thanks! I left out a few words - I specifically was thinking about what Disney Imagineers might use this for at a Disney park. Are they developing some new tech for use in a new land, perhaps? [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Land https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Land

bobbles 10y ago

A whole room of disney animatronics that are completely wireless and battery powered for crazy interactive experiences would be pretty cool

david-given 10y ago

A huge swarm of flying drone manipulators in a manufacturing facility. There are already demos of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnkMyfQ5YfY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnkMyfQ5YfY ...but drones use so much power that it's unsustainable beyond demos. Beaming power to them suddenly makes this useful because you can keep them flying indefinitely. I'll predict that if Disney actually have this working beyond a prototype, we'll see demos of drone swarms building complex objects out of children's bricks within a year, and prototypes of tool-wielding drones actually doing assembly within another.

bane 10y ago
It also increases the weight of the payload they can move around since they wouldn't have batteries (unless the weight of the receiving coils overwhelms that).

gene-h 10y ago

1.9 kilowatts is a sizable amount of power. In comparison a DJI phantom 4 consumes about 175 watts[0]. One could probably keep a decently large drone in the air indefinitely. [0]http://www.drone-world.com/dji-phantom-4-specs http://www.drone-world.com/dji-phantom-4-specs