Ever since Marty McFly rode on one in 1989’s hit film “Back to the Future Part II,” fans have dreamed of having their own levitating skateboard, or “hoverboard.”<\/p>\n
That wish has now come true, as engineers in Northern California have turned the futuristic device into reality.<\/p>\n
The Hendo Hoverboard levitates on conductive surfaces: defying gravity, it floats about an inch above the ground, powered by four disc-shaped magnetic engines.<\/p>\n
That means you can ride it just like a skateboard on a ramp-style platform, albeit one made only of metal or otherwise electricity-conducting material, to produce the magnetic field.<\/p>\n
It can move speedily, if noisily, in multiple directions, as well as turn around. The battery only lasts seven minutes, but that is still enough time to take a grown adult for an exhilarating ride.<\/p>\n
The technology that propels it is called Magnetic Field Architecture, developed by the startup company Arx Pax, which turned to the Kickstarter crowdfunding website to raise so-called seed money to bring it to market.<\/p>\n
“We want to seed this hover ecosystem by putting the technology into the hands of all those tinkerers,” said Jill Avery Henderson, co-founder and chief operating officer of Arx Pax.<\/p>\n
The board itself — which is partly made by a 3D printer — levitates on top of conductive materials such as aluminum or a copper half-pipe, which its makers have been using to show off their device.<\/p>\n