uBeam's Wireless Technology Aims to Kill the Power Cord With ultrasonic waves, the newest innovation in powering up charges ahead.

If uBeam has its way, dead batteries and charging cords will soon be a quaint memory, much like rotary dial telephones. The Los Angeles-based company has developed technology that transmits ultrasonic waves (at a register well beyond what's audible) that are translated by devices as a microscopic quiver; this vibration is converted back into an electrical charge to power anything with a battery, no wires or wall plugs required.

Meredith Perry, who began tinkering with wireless charging as a paleobiology undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania, started the company in 2011. "Just think of my grandpa, who could have his pacemaker powered remotely, or my other grandpa, who can't hear if he forgets to change his hearing-aid battery," she notes of the technology's broad potential.

Areas where uBeam could reshape business include powering tablets at retail, wireless headsets at warehouses, battery-powered tools at construction sites—devices would always be charged and ready to go. Offices, too, now designed by necessity around fixed infrastructure like wall sockets, would be open to reinterpretation.