The Hoverboard Has Arrived!!!

[Mal12345]

I swear it's the real deal this time!

 

[Chthonic]

Wow! Are skaters morons or something? Those two presenters took irritating, and trying too hard to a new level not to mention the rather obvious corporate condescension towards it's market. Wow kids, this is soooo cool!

But aside from that...now you guys can skate the ancient copper rooves of renaissance monuments.

 

[Seymour]

So, looks legit enough, but there are some obvious problems:

• The hover height is very low. This means there would be a very low tolerance for uneven ground, bumps, ruts, etc. With a higher hover height, there's more tolerance for uneven ground, but that often increases other issues.
• None of the demos include audio. I suspect it's relatively loud, which would be in an issue in populated areas.
• How do they solve the braking/cornering problem of hovercraft? Even a regular skateboard can corner fairly tightly, but a hovercraft can't take advantage of a solid connection with the ground. While one could jump off a hoverboard, the board itself might still have significant momentum. Depending on how heavy it is, a moving overboard could cause real damage. Maybe it could be set to ground itself if one stepped off?

The un-coolness of the presenters/marketing doesn't bother me as much as the apparent limitations.

I'm unconvinced of the real utility/breakthrough here, but think the concept is reasonably cool. I suspect one of the hover bikes (a ridable quad-copter) is more practical in the long run in some respects, even if hoverbikes are even more dangerous. Scary but fun stuff!

 

[GarrotTheThief]

So, looks legit enough, but there are some obvious problems:

• The hover height is very low. This means there would be a very low tolerance for uneven ground, bumps, ruts, etc. With a higher hover height, there's more tolerance for uneven ground, but that often increases other issues.
• None of the demos include audio. I suspect it's relatively loud, which would be in an issue in populated areas.
• How do they solve the braking/cornering problem of hovercraft? Even a regular skateboard can corner fairly tightly, but a hovercraft can't take advantage of a solid connection with the ground. While one could jump off a hoverboard, the board itself might still have significant momentum. Depending on how heavy it is, a moving overboard could cause real damage. Maybe it could be set to ground itself if one stepped off?

The un-coolness of the presenters/marketing doesn't bother me as much as the apparent limitations.

I'm unconvinced of the real utility/breakthrough here, but think the concept is reasonably cool. I suspect one of the hover bikes (a ridable quad-copter) is more practical in the long run in some respects, even if hoverbikes are even more dangerous. Scary but fun stuff!

my thoughts as well.

 

[93JC]

Back to the Future Countdown to October 21, 2015

 

[Seymour]

Here's a nytimes video that gives some additional information on the current state of the hoverboard.

Note the current version requires a conductive, non-magnetic surface and has a very short battery life, but it's less loud that I feared.

 

[Underdog]

If you are defining it by the movies then it is not a hoverboard until it hovers over any surface. This can only hover over certain surfaces. Disappointed.

 

[93JC]

If you are defining it by the movies then it is not a hoverboard until it hovers over any surface. This can only hover over certain surfaces. Disappointed.

 

[Underdog]

It may not be moving, but it is still hovering over the water. It also was hovering and moving over other many other surfaces the version Hendo is making cannot hover over.

Back to the Future Part 2 (3/12) Movie CLIP - Hover Board Chase (1989) HD - YouTube

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/gfx/news/2006/jesus-water-31.jpg