A California startup called Arx Pax is launching a Kickstarter campaign that may finally lead to the elusive piece of technology we've been wanting since Back to the Future II -- the hoverboard.
The Hendo Hoverboard is the first of its kind and can be preordered for only $10,000.
"The Hendo Hoverboard is something that has to be experienced in order to understand," said Jill Henderson, one of the founders of Arx Pax. "Words cannot describe it."
The Hendo Hoverboard essentially relies on magnets to lift the device over a metal surface. It's important to note it currently only works on metallic surfaces, meaning we won't be gliding over water any time soon.
Some are very skeptical of the new device, which reportedly also only works for a few minutes before the battery runs out.
Admittedly, the company really only created the Hendo Hoverboard as a publicity stunt, and instead wants to focus on using the technology for other applications.
"The business plan is to develop magnetic technologies and license patents to builders, engineering firms, the Green Goblin and anyone else who might need to hover something," said a report on the device. "Mr. Henderson may be a dreamer, but he is enough of a realist to understand that people are likely to be more interested in hovering skateboards than they are in his ideas for new kinds of building foundations."
This is where the Kickstarter campaign comes in. While the hoverboard is one of the prizes for those who donate $10,000 or more before Dec. 15, the real focus is on the Whitebox developer kit, which includes a "Hendo hover engine" inside a white box and enough surface material to keep it afloat. While buyers can simply buy the Whitebox kit and watch it hover, the team at Hendo encourages people to take it apart and develop levitating products of their own.
"Unlike magnetic levitation systems employed today, our hover systems are comparably inexpensive and completely sustainable," said the Kickstarter page. "Lifting a wide range of loads -- whether it's a person riding a hoverboard (what we were all expecting) or a building riding out an earthquake (what we never imagined could be possible) -- is all within reach."
Arx Pax says if someone has an idea they want to produce using the Hendo technology, they will work with them to make it a reality.
