This is it, people. Another piece of future has arrived. Well, almost. Meet the Xiaomi Mi Air Charge, a true, over-the-air wireless charging technology, or as Xiaomi calls it, remote charging.
That’s right. This borderline sci-fi technology that we heard companies like Disney, Wi-Charge, Yank Technologies, et cetera, have been working on, has is materialized by Xiaomi.
Mi Air Charge Technology offers up to 5W “remote charging” for multiple devices within a room. Mind you. That’s wireless charging anywhere within the space of a room and without leaving the devices on a charging pad. Now, that’s the future now.
Mi Air Charge technology uses Xiaomi developed isolated charging pile, featuring five phase interference antennas to detect the location of a smartphone while a phase control array boasting 144 antennas transmits millimeter-wide waves directed at the phone through beamforming.
But obviously, for that to work, you will need a compatible smartphone. And in this case, a smartphone outfitted with a miniaturized antenna array with built-in “beacon antenna” and “receiving antenna array.”
The using low power consumption, beacon antenna tells Mi Air Charger its position while the receiving antenna array, which has 14 antennas, converts the millimeter-wave signal into electric energy through the rectifier circuit and thus completing the remote charging experience.
As of now, Xiaomi Mi Air Charge Technology is capable of 5W remote charging for a single device “within a radius of several meters.” Though the exact distance has not been revealed.
Apparently, physical obstacles will not affect the charging efficiency and the charger is able to support multiple devices at 5W for each device.
Moving forward, Xiaomi plans to include this technology with smartwatches, fitness trackers, and other wearable devices.
Looking even further, the company has bold ambition to introduce this technology into a bunch of living room devices, including speakers, desk lamps and other small smart home products.
Images: Xiaomi.
