Microsoft Research Is Developing Technology To Automatically Charge Smartphones Using A Light Beam

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Microsoft Autocharge Illustration

Microsoft Research has recently revealed their new project called AutoCharge which will allow charging the smartphones without any explicit effort from users. Usually, users have to plug use power cable to charge their smartphone. In some smartphones such as high-end Lumia devices, there is a wireless charging method in which users are required to place their smartphone on a wireless charging pad. In the AutoCharge method from MSR, the charging system automatically locates a smartphone on a desk and charges it using light beam.

The AutoCharge approach automatically locates a smartphone on a desk and charges it in a transparent matter from the user. This is achieved by two techniques. First, we leverage solar charging technique but use it in indoor spac-es, to remotely charge a smartphone using a light beam without a wire. Second, we employ an image-processing-based technique to detect and track smartphones on a desk for automatic smartphone charging. As a result, AutoCharge is able to largely reduce users’ efforts in smartphone charg-ing and significantly improve the user experience. We have designed and implemented a prototype system of the Auto-Charge approach. We report the design details of the light charger and the smartphone detection and tracking system. Experimental results show that our prototype is able to de-tect the presence of a smartphone within seconds and charge it as fast as existing wired chargers, demonstrating the fea-sibility of automatic smartphone charging.

Microsoft Autocharge

Source: Microsoft Research via: Venturebeat

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