October 21, 2015 is a date that many fans of the Back to the Future films have been waiting for, to see how many of the film’s predictions for the year 2015 were accurate…and it just so happens that one of the futuristic technologies shown in the movie might just be a reality soon, thanks to the Lexus hoverboard, Slide.
A Real-Life Functioning Hoverboard
Back in June of this year, Lexus unveiled its Slide hoverboard with a short teaser video that set the internet abuzz with talk of the Lexus hoverboard. Many people wondered if the hoverboard shown in the short clip was a legitimate hoverboard. Some skeptics even claimed that it was probably just a promotional video to get people to talk about the Lexus brand before they unveil a new car.
Those concerns were finally answered with the release of the test run video, which shows the Lexus hoverboard in action at a special “hover park” in Spain. The video shows professional skater Ross McGouran doing a few test rides on the hoverboard and getting acquainted with the new technology.
One would assume that riding a hoverboard would essentially be the same as riding a skateboard, but according to McGouran, that is not really the case. “I’ve spent 20 years skateboarding, but without friction it feels like I’ve had to learn a whole new skill, particularly in the stance and balance in order to ride the hoverboard. It’s a whole new experience,” he said of his Lexus hoverboard experience.
Pre-Slide Hoverboard Buzz
Skeptics of the Lexus hoverboard teaser video from June were not unjustified in their skepticism, however. Last year, the very first mention of a supposedly functioning hoverboard came from HUVr. They released a promotional video that showed people supposedly hovering around on what looked like fully functional hoverboards almost identical in design to the Back to the Future hoverboard that Marty McFly used. The video even featured pro skater Tony Hawk, which lent credence to the authenticity of the video for many who viewed it. After generating much buzz on the internet, Tony Hawk admitted that it was staged and apologized for the fake video.
Later that year, however, another hoverboard took the internet by storm, as the American startup company Arx Pax announced its intention to produce and market the Hendo Hoverboard on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. This hoverboard, unlike the HUVr hoverboard, was the real deal. It was not quite the hoverboard that Back to the Future fans had been waiting for, but it was a good first step in the right direction. Considering how the Lexus hoverboard works, some would even say that it is somewhat of a precursor to this latest hoverboard.
How Does the Lexus Hoverboard Work?
Remember the special “hover park” in Spain mentioned at the beginning of this article? The catch to this hoverboard from Lexus is that it works because the park that the video was filmed at contains about 656 feet of magnetic track, which essentially acts as a wide open train track for the hoverboard to work on.
The board contains superconductors that are cooled to and maintained at a temperature of -197º F through the use of liquid nitrogen, which generates a quantum locking effect that enables the board to remain in a state of constant levitation as long as it is being used in the special park in Spain. Watch the test ride video here and see the board in action for yourself.
Of course, what this means is that fans of the Back to the Future films who have dreamed of the day that they can be just like Marty McFly and cruise around town in a hoverboard still have to wait for the kind of hoverboard that they saw in the film to become a reality. Thanks to the Lexus hoverboard, though, fans know that it’s only a matter of time before that day arrives…hopefully such technology will get here before October 21, 2015.
Check out an alternative board before the Back to the Future -inspired board’s release its release:
