If there is one potentially societal changing technology being actively developed, it is wireless power transmission.  Nothing else, if properly implemented, could so drastically change the way we live our lives.  Electric or hydrogen powered cars may change what propels us when we drive, but they don’t fundamentally change the way we drive.  OLED or 3D TV’s may dramatically improve the quality of our television viewing experience, but they don’t alter the decades old act of sitting in a room staring dumbly at a light-emitting screen.

Now, envision a world free of power cords, wall outlets, and possibly even unsightly power transmission lines.  It’s a truly stunning thought, yielding new freedoms in everything from room arrangements to the very form factor by which many products are designed.  Suddenly, the need for batteries to power portable devices, in many settings, goes away.  The very laptop I’m typing this article on could have its bulky, expensive battery removed while retaining its portability.

Visions of the potential benefits that this technology could herald are endless.  And why shouldn’t they be?  Most devices with which we interact require two inputs, power and signal, to function, provide feedback, and accomplish the tasks for which they’ve been designed.  For example, cars require a motor or engine to move them.  But without a human providing direction, they’d have no where to go.  Along the same vein, TV’s require electrical power and a video input signal to present the content producer’s material.  We’ve managed to make wireless many forms of signal transmission, such as broadcast TV, wireless Internet, and wireless audio to name a few.  So removing the final powered tether that so many electrical devices require could have massive implications regarding how people are forced to interact with things.

Wireless technology itself has been around in concept for over a hundred years.  The idea of causing magnetic resonance in an electrically charged coil, bringing another uncharged coil into that magnetic field, and harnessing the power it produces as it resonates can be traced back to Tesla in the 1890′s.

But despite recent advances and as was the case years ago, there are still several technological hurdles which must be leaped before wireless power can become more than the subject of some cool demonstrations or drive several small consumer electronics devices like cell phone chargers.  Technical issues such as reducing the size of the resonant coils and increasing transmission range and efficiency remain.  Social and political questions, such as how to control “power theft” since the technology is apparently boundless or who will pay for the massive infrastructure upgrades needed to fully benefit from the technology need to be answered.  The technology will surely face opposition since it threatens, for example, the lucrative battery industry.

The video embedded below is an amazing “state of the technology” demonstration which introduces wireless power transmission and some of its benefits and challenges.  At about 10 minutes in length, its worth watching if you’re interested in this amazing feat of electrical engineering.

[Image from:  HowStuffWorks]