The other day a colleague called me on my mobile phone, and we had a very bad connection. His voice was deep, slow, gravelly, and completely garbled, like a movie monster voice. I couldn’t understand a word. In case he could hear me, I said I’d call him back.
On reconnecting, we laughed about it. “What happened there?” With so many different ways to easily and seamlessly connect — over landlines, cell towers, satellites, over Wi-Fi and different networks like LTE, 4G, and now 5G — and listen to someone’s recognizable voice, when it doesn’t work, we find it incredulous.
Remote Communication Has Come a Long Way … and Is Still Charging Ahead
It’s hard to imagine a time without phone calling, let alone our interconnected mobile devices, which keep us in touch in many different ways in many different circles. Our personal devices have become so much a part of our daily lives that getting power to these devices, even right next to where we sleep, is of utmost importance.
Power Access Drives Design
Hotel rooms and bedside lamps are now designed with electrical outlets and USB plugs within pillow distance. Airplane seats now have power plugs … and we’re thrilled by it! Especially when, as a device ages, the rechargeable batteries age too, requiring us to plug in or use a charging pad more frequently.
Those rechargeable batteries too, have gotten smaller and smaller, so we can design more lightweight devices without sacrificing power. But these batteries have a terminal lifespan; imagine not needing them at all.
Power Plugs and Pads Are Becoming Obsolete
The world of electronics design is shifting yet again, with the adoption of wireless power. Soon, we’ll remember those plugs and chargers and low battery warnings with a laugh.
Workers won’t have to stop what they’re doing to go find two double A batteries for their wireless mouse (or handheld scanner or measuring device or whatever they need to do their job). A battery switch or stop to plug in may only take 2 or 10 minutes, but the interruption itself could cost thousands of dollars in lost focus and efficiencies.
How Wireless Power Is Changing Lives
By eliminating our dependence on batteries, we don’t have to send someone to the floor to meet a consumer who can’t read a digital price display that’s not receiving enough power from an old battery to be legible.
By reducing our reliance on the outlet, we don’t need to design our hotels, coffee shops, offices, warehouses, vehicles, airports, or even airplane seats to have super convenient charging stations. With wireless power, we eliminate the need to hardwire entire systems that only need continuous low power. It’ll be delivered over air, automatically.
In fact, with wireless power, we’ll soon forget about the inconvenience of needing to charge or change batteries in small devices at all. It will happen automatically, without us blinking an eye. Wireless power is giving us the convenience and freedom of leveraging all of today’s devices — and tomorrow’s unimagined ones — without worrying about timing use or battery drain.
Ossia’s Big Audacious Goal: Wireless Power Everywhere for Everyone
This is Ossia’s goal: to make wireless power, over distance, while in motion, without line of sight, as ubiquitous as the electrical outlet is today. Innovating on wired or battery technology is not enough. We need to continue to innovate and refine and expand on wireless power technology alongside our licensees and strategic partners, and help them share their vision for leveraging wireless power.
What could your business do with wireless power breaking current limitations? We truly believe you’re only limited by your imagination. Let’s discuss the possibilities.
