One of Nicola Tesla’s craziest, most famous ideas was the idea of so-called wireless energy, in which electricity just floated through the air to be plucked down to power your car or headphones or whatever device you might have that needs electricity. That idea is beginning to take off in a limited way, but a company named after the inventor is looking to use wireless power recycling as a way to keep your smartphone active just a little bit longer. Nikola Labs has a smartphone case that recycles radio waves into battery power.
“It’s not a spectacular, in-your-face technology, but it’s a technology that works,” said company co-founder Will Zell during a presentation at TechCrunch Disrupt.
The product was actually created at Ohio State University, where co-founder Rob Lee was the chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. The product has been licensed to Nikola Labs, who are developing a plan to turn the technology into a $99 smartphone case. It won’t actually power your phone, but it does slow down power drain during use and a demonstration at TechCrunch Disrupt did reveal power generating. Not too shabby!
Tags: ohio state university, nikola labs, smartphone case, radio power smartphone case, rob lee, turning radio waves to electricity, radio wave power iphone case, iphone, iphone case turns radio waves to power, technology, techcrunch disrupt, will zell
