Lexus Invents Hoverboard?

No this isn't the Star Wars Speeder , or the guy who broke the recent world record for the farthest flight by hoverboard . But apparently Lexus have invented hover skate-boards...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zTCgMPZRuo

I was too skeptical when I first saw it to post this lol, but it's been picked up in lots of places so hopefully this isn't a joke or a marketing gimmick. At any rate it's good timing since this is the year Marty McFly showed us we would have hovering skateboards!

I still can't quite believe it but this does seem to be real!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwSwZ2Y0Ops

I'm thinking a hover kayak would just go round in circles :silly:
... but put em under electric cars and it would reduce the battery draw during acceleration (I'd guess) or cut out holes in the floor for lo-tech transport

Well that's Christmas sorted!

Hmm, I call cattle poop on this one. For now...

For one it only works on permanent magnet tracks, rendering it effectively useless on any regular surface. Then there is only so much nitrogen they can keep in there, and that is already quite a weight, not to mention the human being ontop. Until I see it outside of a heavily scripted and clearly CGI powered commercial, this sounds like another marketing gimmick to me.

Gisteron wrote: Hmm, I call cattle poop on this one. For now...

It only works on their dedicated hover-park:
http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/this-is-how-the-lexus-hoverboard-really-works-1301055

But it does work.

Seems to be one hard SOB to ride, though

Damn... seems to be just a marketing dealy... a mere attention getter...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVdmjRAohd8#t=137

I seriously question the logic and irresponsibility of introducing a group of skateboarders to a frictionless and therefore inertia preserving "slippery" hoverboard and encouraging them to perform stunts with it - sans protective gear - all to film a promotional advertisement for a brand. No doubt those skaters had to sign a battery of liability waivers voluminous enough to weigh this device down to the ground by themselves.

CryojenX wrote: I seriously question the logic and irresponsibility of introducing a group of skateboarders to a frictionless and therefore inertia preserving "slippery" hoverboard and encouraging them to perform stunts with it - sans protective gear - all to film a promotional advertisement for a brand. No doubt those skaters had to sign a battery of liability waivers voluminous enough to weigh this device down to the ground by themselves.

That thought did occur to me as well. This is a bit like those Virgin Galactic flights are going to be like: everyone knows that once in a while, people will break their necks on one of those things, but they're so damn cool that concern over safety is overruled by 'must have'.