Electricity in the air is lightning, right, so by definition, it wouldn't be safe. We don't put electricity in the air, we utilize a very low density magnetic field to move energy through the air. The magnetic field we create is on the order of the earth's magnetic field. The difference is that we use an oscillating magnetic field, while the earth's field is static. By designing a power source and power capture device to oscillate at the same exact frequency, we can achieve what is called "Highly Resonant Magnetic Coupling."

Resonance exists in many physical systems, and is a very efficient way to exchange energy between two devices. Probably the most famous example is Ella Fitzgerald on the Memorex commercial where she sings and the glass breaks on the other side of the room. That is acoustic resonance. The glass resonated at the same frequency as her voice and the glass picked up that energy. Note it didn't break anybody else's eardrum in the room. It was safe to everybody because the glass was the only object that had the exact same resonant frequency as the note that Ella sang..

So resonance exists in nature and Dr. Marin Soljacic was thinking, "Can we get two magnetic devices to resonate and exchange energy over distance?" Magnetic fields don't interact with living organisms very much at all. You look like air to a magnet. You don't interfere with it and it doesn't interfere with you at the levels we're talking about.

If you were to look inside a transformer that takes AC current and transforms it to a low a voltage for your cell phone or laptop, you'd find two coils of wire placed very, very close to each other. One coil creates a magnetic field and it induces one on the other. But if you pull the coils apart just a little bit they stop working because the inductions phenomenon only works over a very short distance.