Q&A with New Board Member, NuCurrent: Making Wireless Power Seamless, Scalable, and Invisible

NuCurrent recently became the ninth member on the NFC Forum’s governing Board of Directors, joining the elite group of experts who are working to enable secure, tap-based NFC interactions with an intuitive, reliable experience to users around the globe.

In light of this announcement, we sat down with Jacob Babcock, Founder and CEO of NuCurrent, to learn more about his aims and objectives as an NFC Forum Board member, hear his thoughts on the future of NFC, and discuss his vision to make wireless charging seamless, scalable, and invisible.

1) Jacob, can you start by telling us a bit about NuCurrent.

NuCurrent is the global leader in wireless power systems for compact devices. Born out of a class project at Northwestern University, we initially specialized in healthcare applications, but in 2014 we realised that the same fundamental design principles could be applied to other wireless power use cases.

Fast forward to today, we partner with some of the world’s biggest Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Fortune 100 companies, and innovative startups, have over 280 granted patents, and have accrued a decade of experience in delivering state-of-the-art solutions across a portfolio including wearable devices, consumer electronics, industrial electronics and medical technologies that both outperform and outlast market rivals.

2) Why is NFC such a valuable tool when designing wirelessly charged devices?

NuCurrent operates on technology-agnostic principles, so we always consider the unique needs of each individual use case before deciding which technology to employ. This has enabled us to build a wealth of experience and technology across all facets of the wireless power ecosystem, designing products using Qi, Ki, and our own proprietary ISM band. However, NFC has three unique benefits that other systems simply can’t match.

The first is in its physics. The high frequency upon which NFC operates allows for looser couplings, meaning that it still operates effectively even without precise alignment of the two devices. For the manufacturer, this provides more freedom on where they can place the antenna within the device; for the user, it means a quicker and easier user experience.

Secondly, NFC can fit in practically any device, thanks to antennas as small as 3x3 mm. This allows product designers to incorporate wireless functionality without compromising the aesthetics of the device. This is crucial for small or irregularly shaped devices such as smart eyeglasses, hearing aids, or wearables, where other technology options simply wouldn’t fit.

The final benefit is arguably the most important of all: Ubiquity. With over four billion NFC-enabled devices already deployed and used daily around the world, users know and trust NFC solutions. An astonishing $21B daily transactions occur over NFC technology. It’s now such a foundational technology to the contactless user experience that the untrained individual barely even stops to think about it.

Combining these three benefits of NFC has led us to see its superiority for our multiple use cases in critical product areas. NFC technology has enabled us to create a wireless charging experience that is both invisible and seamless. No wires, no complexity – powering the device just works.

3) Why is NFC particularly important for the next wave of wirelessly powered devices?

Artificial Intelligence is completely reshaping the hardware landscape. Right now, most people access AI through legacy devices such as their smartphone, their laptops, or a smartwatch, none of which were designed for AI. This results in a user experience dependant on static interfaces rather than the more dynamic, tailored workflows that AI is able to execute. A new class of AI-native devices are therefore necessary for users to fully benefit from the capabilities of this new computing platform.

Momentum for such devices is already clear. We’ve already seen multi-billion dollar investments made in this field by a number of “Big Tech” leaders, notably in solutions that have small, sleek designs for everyday use. This creates a significant tailwind for NFC wireless power as these devices do not have space for large batteries or cumbersome charging points. NFC solutions can deliver power to compact devices without risk of overloading their components. That same NFC antenna can then also be used for data transfer, making pairing and provisioning a device simple.

One such AI interface that’s gathering momentum is smart eyeglasses. At NuCurrent, we’ve already worked with countless leading brands that demand fashion and invisible technology merge seamlessly in their products. The ability of NFC to enable the transfer of both power and data in a way that is seamless and invisible for the end user, while also allowing for sleek product design without compromising on aesthetics stands it apart from other wired and wireless power alternatives.

4) Why has NuCurrent taken the step up to join the NFC Forum Board, and what is your vision for the organisation’s future?

We have been a part of NFC Forum for a number of years, contributing to specifications and benefiting from the collective expertise of our fellow members. However, it is now increasingly clear in the rapidly evolving hardware landscape that wireless power will inevitably become ubiquitous.

We therefore believe that now is the time to for NuCurrent to take a more active role, adding to the wealth of expertise of the existing NFC Forum Board members to help propel us into the new era of contactless functionality where wireless power – and its standardization and innovation – will be essential.

NFC Forum is already ambitious in this space. Its vast and diverse membership base gives it access to a every step of the value chain. This means that together we can create solutions that go beyond a minimal viable product, towards a fully interoperable wireless power ecosystem filled with a comprehensive portfolio of devices.

Using NFC Forum standards allows manufacturers to remain focused on their core expertise – creating innovative solutions – safe in the knowledge that they will be able to deliver excellent wireless power experiences to users that are interoperable across devices. In this way, NFC will become the invisible infrastructure that is so trusted and ubiquitous that the user never even needs to consciously notice it – it just works.