Ever since Marty McFly hoverboarded through time in Back to the Future II, sci-fi fans have been dreaming of a real-life floating skateboard to call their own. Startup Hendo Hover is looking to make that dream a reality; the company's Kickstarter is raising funds for a fully-functional hoverboard, which could let you live out your futuristic fantasies by late 2015.
Dubbed simply the Hendo Hoverboard, the gadget uses four circular hover engines, which create a unique magnetic field that levitates the board about an inch off the ground. The hoverboard's current prototype is black and chunky, with textured foot grips at the top and a bright blue glow that emanates from the bottom. It's not quite as sexy as the hoverboard in your geeky dreams, but, based on Hendo's renderings, the board's final build could look like a sleeker version of what McFly once zoomed around on.
MORE: Weirdest Kickstarter Campaigns of 2014
But Hendo isn't just trying to sell you its own hoverboard. The company's Kickstarter page also offers the Whitebox developer kit, which lets creators use the tech behind Hendo Hoverboard as they see fit. The Whitebox+ kit takes things further by adding remote hover control via an iOS or Android app, allowing you to create, say, a replica Star Wars Landspeeder that you can pilot around the house like an RC car.
If you're absolutely aching to try Hendo Hoverboard, you can spend $100 on Kickstarter to ride the gizmo for five minutes at Hendo's Silicon Valley headquarters or "potentially at a hoverpark near you in the future." $300 gets you the Whitebox developer kit, while the Whitebox+ starts at $700. Hendo offered 10 production units of the actual hoverboard for anyone who had $10,000 lying around, and they're all gone already.
Despite being wildly expensive, Hendo's hoverboard technology could make many a childhood dream come true, and could help innovate anything from toys to transportation once it's in the hands of developers. If Hendo reaches its $250,000 goal by Dec. 15, the hoverboards will start shipping in Oct. 2015 -- coincidentally the same exact month and year that Marty McFly found himself in during Back to the Future II.
Source: Kickstarter
- 10 Wackiest iPhone and iPad Accessories
- Go Directly to Fail: Worst Tech Product Ideas Ever
- 25 Worst Gadget Flops of All Time
Mike Andronico is an Associate Editor at Tom's Guide. Follow Mike @MikeAndronico and on Google+. Follow us @TomsGuide, on Facebook and on Google+
