An American tech company named Hendo is seemingly close to bringing Marty McFly’s Hoverboard to reality.
Fans of the 1989 movie Back To The Future were in awe of its protagonist as he sped across streets on what was essentially a skate board that hovered above the earth’s surface. Since then many fans have waited patiently for the technology to surface – which it now has. Sort of.
Hendo’s KickStarter invention relies on technology that is similar in principle to Maglev trains. Due to opposing magnetic forces between the board and the surface below, the contraption is able to hover an inch above the ground.
The Hendo hoverboard is, admittedly, far from the finished article. It is still only a prototype and at this stage only capable of riding over certain metallic surfaces such as copper and aluminum. Another problem is that it moves at a very sluggish pace and is extremely noisy.
Even so, the hoverboard has to start somewhere and Hendo seems to have bigger things planned for the technology used to create the Hoverboard, including being used to safeguard various buildings and bridges at risk from earthquakes.
Hendo is clearly using the hoverboard to showcase the technology’s capabilities, rather than give fans of Back to the Future the opportunity to escape reality and pretend they are Marty. So it looks like we’re stuck with our four-wheeled friends a bit longer, then.
The Hendo Kickstarter has amassed US$325,000 of its US$250,000 goal, with 51 days still to go. Sadly the ten US$10,000 pledges needed to be one of the first people in the world to own one have all gone.
To see more of this intriguing techology watch the videos below.
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