Since I was a young boy, hover boards have always been my most immediate image of the future. Next to flying cars and robot maids, nothing seemed more likely to usher in the turn of the century than my own personal flying skateboard. Unfortunately, science and technology in the 21st century have more or less let down my generation in this regard. Sure, they gave us thousands of songs, games, and social media applications that can fit into a device smaller than most of the calculator we grew up with, but super-cool skateboards that wiz through the air? Not so much.
According to a new video circulating the Internet, my dreams may finally come true. The video (titles simply “BELIEF” on YouTube) begins with Christopher Loyd—who played Doc Brown in Back to the Future—exiting a model of the film’s Delorian with a large plastic case in hand.
He walks across a parking lot to a film crew, where skateboarding celebrity Tony Hawk is waiting. Before you can say “where we’re going..we don’t need roads!” Hawk has pulled an operational hover board from the case and begun riding it.
The video shows a number of other celebrities—including Schoolboy Q and Moby—riding the board which, according to the videos website “HUVr”, is controlled via an iphone.
While the video looks vaguely possible, many have been quick to point out that—considering it’s abruptness and lack of technical explanation—it is probably a ruse. A quick view of video makes it apparent that the actors are probably wearing harnesses—the lack of above-waist shots seems more likely.
All the website reveals about the product’s development is that it began as a “summer project in 2010 at the MIT Physics Graduate Program” and is “one of the most exciting independent products to be developed out of MIT since the high-powered lithium ion batteries developed by Yet_ming Chian in 2001.” It then explains that the purpose of revealing the technology so early is to procure money for R&D.
Moreover, the designs of the boards are pretty cheesy—they look pretty much like the ones from the film—and it’s hard to believe that a group of people so intelligent would really want to market their product in the form of what looks like a 90’s Hasbro reject.
An article over at the International Business times also pointed out this particular segment of the website’s legal section: “the inclusion of any products or services on this website at a particular time does not imply or warrant that these products or services will be available at any time.”
So, despite our cravings, it looks like we may have to wait a few more years for our hover boards (quantum levitation, anyone?). Until then, we’ll have to content ourselves with our satellite phones and Netflix accounts.
