Corian Countertops Designed to Charge Your Wireless Devices

I spent some time this week at Modernism Week in Palm Springs, ostensibly to lavish in mid-century modern architecture, but hopefully to pick up some tips for incorporating smart-home technology into this favorite style of mine.

So imagine how excited I was to see Corian’s “wireless charging solid surface” on display at the main gathering place!

You take this timeless brand of countertops – the envy of every kitchen designer – and simply place your mobile phone upon it. Blammo, the phone charges up! No need to plug anything into an outlet – including an unsightly wireless charging pad. The surface is the pad.

Well, not exactly.

The material is not endowed with any special powers, so to speak. It’s just regular ol’ DuPont Corian (or Zodiaq Quartz).

The “magic” is that a fabricator hollows out a section beneath the countertop and affixes an inductive charger into the space. The hot spot must be marked on the top side so users can find the exact charging location. Only one device can charge at a time – either via the device’s built-in wireless charging technology or through a dongle provided by Corian.

There is at least something special about Corian that makes it amenable to wireless charging. A spokesperson at Modernism Week explained the material science behind it – how inductive energy could permeate Corian, but not other solid surfaces – but my interest quickly drifted to all the pretty colors.

One of these days we will certainly see inductive charging systems embedded in surfaces themselves so we can simply toss our mobile devices onto the kitchen counter and forget about them.

Sadly, this is not it.

On the other hand, there is some spectacular architecture in Palm Springs if you’re into mid-century modern.

 

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