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.

This BoingBoing article links to a Nature article about a 1mm sheet of plastic that can transmit power to nearby electrical devices. The plastic sheet has organic transistors embedded into the material that control the flow of electricity and copper coils which will actually conduct the power. The plastic sheet can deliver power to devices within a 2.5 cm range to devices with the proper receiving coil. The sheet is currently used to power LED's and (presumably) items with a similar load. According to the Nature article, the sheet is constructed in 4 layers. The layers of the electricity transmitting sheet are printed using screen printing techniques and electronic ink-jet inks.