Microsoft Research has developed an idea to charge smartphones wirelessly from the ceiling. The device searches a room for smartphones with a Kinect camera and then targets a light beam to the device to charge it through light and warmth energy.
The researchers of Microsoft Research's department in the Chinese capital Beijing call the system "AutoCharge". The system currently uses visible light to charge the phone but in the future this should also be possible with infrared light.
The phone communicates with the AutoCharge system by blinking the LED of the phone or through Bluetooth. Once the camera observes a phone that needs to be charged it targets it with its light beam. Once the phone is fully loaded, AutoCharge starts to search for other phones.
In order for the system to work, the phone requires the ability to be charged through solar energy. There have been phones on the market that could be charged this way, but no popular smartphone can currently be charged through solar energy.
Microsoft Research hopes the technology can become a convenient way to charge a phone on many different locations, when and how and whether a real product is planned remains unknown for now. The idea is similar to the "Energy Router".
