The Folks at MIT recently demonstrated their scheme for wireless transmission of electricity, called WiTricity. The scheme is based on magnetically coupled resonant objects. Two objects which resonate at the same frequency are able to efficiently exchange energy while ignoring other objects. This method is in contrast to other forms of radio frequency transmission of electricity. Transmission of power by means of radio frequency results in an in-efficient system because energy is transmitted radially from the power source.

The experiment published in 'Science' demonstrated the powering of a 60 watt light bulb from 7 feet away.

The team members were Andre Kurs, Aristeidis Karalis, Robert Moffatt, Prof. Peter Fisher, and Prof. John Joannopoulos, led by Prof. Marin Soljacic.

The research was funded by the Army Research Office (Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies), National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.

The MIT release comes on the heels of two other recent announcements of wireless transmission of electricity. Namely the wireless plastic sheet from Tokyo University and the PowerCast RF design. All three technologies have reminded me of Tesla, but the MIT project's use of coupled resonant objects seems like it is straight from the pages of Tesla's design book.

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