Ever wanted to soar on a board like Marty McFly? You may soon be able to do just that. It will cost you only $10,000, and require a metal floor beneath you.
A Los Gatos (US) based startup named Arx Pax launched its Kickstarter campaign for the Hendo Hoverboard, an honest-to-goodness skateboard with nothing but air between you and the ground.
The Hendo relies on four disc-shaped hover engines that generate an electromagnetic field over a conductive surface (like copper sheeting), which in turn creates an opposing field within the surface. The two fields then repel each other, allowing the board to hover about an inch off the ground.
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The concept isn’t new, explains CEO Greg “Hendo” Henderson, co-creator and CEO of Arx Pax (Latin for “citadel of peace”). What’s different is the company’s patented magnetic field architecture (MFA) technology, which offers a more efficient way to use electromagnetic energy.
As a proof of concept, Henderson has created the Hendo Hoverboard. Arx Pax plans to sell 10 of them for $10,000 apiece as part of its Kickstarter campaign. The actual cost of building the boards is significantly higher, he says.
However, buyers who do come up with the money to buy the hoverboard, will have to wait until October 21, 2015, to receive their boards — which is, not coincidentally, the day Michael J. Fox (aka Marty) shows up at the beginning of Back to the Future 2.
