Photo: Tech Crunch
As promised, California-based gizmo maker Arx Pax has just unveiled their latest model of a working hoverboard the other day. It’s not quite what Marty McFly used in Back To The Future II, but it’s one of the closest things we have. Lexus has one too, but they never had Tony Hawk on board, and that seems to make a difference, apparently.
It was not just the Toyota Mirai that landed on US soil yesterday, Hendo Hoverboard 2.0 was there too. It’s the company’s next generation hoverboard that promises more true-to-skateboard-like design inspired by none other than Tony Hawk himself.
“Getting Tony’s feedback made a huge difference in our design approach,” said Greg Henderson, Arx Pax co-founder and CEO. “After some long discussions, we all agreed that the hoverboard should be as intuitive as possible, so we used a traditional deck as the user interface.”
It’s a skateboard alright, only that it has four engines that work on the same Maglev system that super-fast trains in Japan use. The new design has improved rider control and also lowered the volume of the hover engines. Heck, even Bob Gale, the prescient screenwriter/ producer who created the original hoverboard concept for Back To The Future movies liked it.
He said, “It was a total high riding the Hendo because it embodied what we were trying to create in 1989. The Hendersons’ movie-inspired technology has led to not only a functional hoverboard but also other fascinating hover applications.” Hold that thought, for a second!
You see, most of the people who backed the Kickstarter campaign that made this gizmo possible apparently were smaller companies. In fact, Arx Pax themselves admitted they were not necessarily looking to commercialize hoverboards, but rather find new applications for their patented Magnetic Field Architecture.
They believe their technology has the potential to revolutionize numerous markets, including transportation, industrial automation, structural isolation, space, entertainment/recreation and education. NASA seems to be interested, and up to some point the SpaceX’s Hyperloop could use some of that expertise.
“Getting Tony’s feedback made a huge difference in our design approach,” said Greg Henderson, Arx Pax co-founder and CEO. “After some long discussions, we all agreed that the hoverboard should be as intuitive as possible, so we used a traditional deck as the user interface.”
It’s a skateboard alright, only that it has four engines that work on the same Maglev system that super-fast trains in Japan use. The new design has improved rider control and also lowered the volume of the hover engines. Heck, even Bob Gale, the prescient screenwriter/ producer who created the original hoverboard concept for Back To The Future movies liked it.
He said, “It was a total high riding the Hendo because it embodied what we were trying to create in 1989. The Hendersons’ movie-inspired technology has led to not only a functional hoverboard but also other fascinating hover applications.” Hold that thought, for a second!
You see, most of the people who backed the Kickstarter campaign that made this gizmo possible apparently were smaller companies. In fact, Arx Pax themselves admitted they were not necessarily looking to commercialize hoverboards, but rather find new applications for their patented Magnetic Field Architecture.
They believe their technology has the potential to revolutionize numerous markets, including transportation, industrial automation, structural isolation, space, entertainment/recreation and education. NASA seems to be interested, and up to some point the SpaceX’s Hyperloop could use some of that expertise.
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