Remember in January, when everyone looked around and said we did not have any of the gadgets Back to the Future Part II predicted we would have by 2015?
Well, it turns out we do have a hoverboard. It just took a little longer to arrive.
On Tuesday, Lexus released a video of its real-live hoverboard invention in action. Pro skater Ross McGouran served as the test rider, although even he admits the ride was different than usual. "Everything I knew about skating went out the window," he told Lexus.
For the shoot, Lexus designed a park that mixed traditional skate park structures with hoverboard-compatible settings (if that is now a term). Unlike Marty McFly, who failed to hover over water, McGouran glides right across.
The hoverboard works on a mix of superconductors, magnets and liquid nitrogen, and it looks like pieces of Lexus luxury cars were taken apart to make the contraption. Instead of gas, liquid nitrogen smoke is sent out of the board.
The liquid nitrogen cools the semiconductors to -321 degrees Fahrenheit.
As for details, Lexus says the board consists of 11.5 kilograms of weight with magnets, 32 superconductor bulks, 50 ounces of liquid nitrogen, natural bamboo and ultra-lightweight casing. The product has been teased for a few months now, with the full video finally coming to light Tuesday.
Here's the science:
Back to the Future II fans may insist this is not the first hoverboard. Director Robert Zemeckis claims he used real hoverboards for the movie:
Although, when Tony Hawk apologized for the Funny or Die HUVr hoverboard hoax last year, which also included Christopher Lloyd, Hawk said he used the same harness that was used in the film:
Assuming Hawk is right, McGouran is allegedly the first person to ride a hoverboard, not Michael J. Fox.
-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.
