Back to the Future fans can finally get their hands on a real-life hoverboard – but the current prototype has a hefty price tag and some serious limitations.
Many have tried to recreate the hoverboard seen in the 1989 classic Back to the Future II. Christopher Lloyd, who played Dr Emmett Brown in the series, even took part in an elaborate hoax claiming to have invented the real thing earlier this year.
Now Californian tech company Arx Pax, founded by Jill and Greg Henderson, has created a prototype that can hover three centimetres off the ground and carry up to 140kg for 15 minutes on battery power.
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While Marty McFly failed to hover over water, the Hendo prototype is even more limited when it comes to the surfaces it will work on.
The real-life invention uses a strong magnetic field to repulse a ground-based material, which means it will only float over non-ferrous metals such as copper or aluminium.
"This is no skateboard for flying down to the local supermarket, or around the town square hoiked to the back of a pickup truck," says The Guardian.
Sean Buckley at Engadget tested it out at Arx Pax's custom-made copper skate park. He says that with no form of driving force, the Hendo simply drifts across surfaces – although it can be partially guided by leaning on different parts of the board.
"Without feeling the friction of the ground, however, I had trouble knowing how much pressure to exert – Henderson's staff had to jump in and save me from spinning out of control," says Buckley. "Clearly, this might take some practice."
Another small catch is that the Hendo will cost you $10,000 (around £6,220) to own, says Gizmodo. The hoverboard in the video above is Arx Pax's 18th prototype. The company is attempting to crowdfund advances in the technology by renting out rides to its financial supporters.
"It is still early days," says Greg Henderson, "but we are absolutely thrilled because we have proven conclusively that what was widely considered impossible is, in fact, possible."
