Wednesday, March 5, 2014

UPDATE - Hoverboards Are Back From the Future

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Posted By on Wed, Mar 5, 2014 at 9:00 AM

The hover-board Marty McFly road in the 1989 film, "Back to the Future II," is no longer believed to be science fiction based on a video that has gained a lot of attention on the Internet this week featuring a familiar cast from the future along with celebrity demonstrations from Tony Hawk, Moby, Terrell Owens, Schoolboy Q and Agnes Bruckner.

Christopher Lloyd, also known as Dr. Emmett Brown the mad-time-traveling scientist that invented the flux capacitor came back in the DeLorean to remind us that the technology required to make hover-boards 25 years ago was an impossibility.

"Thanks to the clever folks with HUVrTech the technology has caught up with the concept," he says.

The video was filmed in downtown Los Angeles in February 2014 and claims, "The following demonstrations are completely real."

Then Tony Hawk, Moby, Terrell Owens, Schoolboy Q and Agnes Bruckner hover around showing how apparently easy they are to ride.

"Hovering this way feels like skateboarding in its purest form. Because theres no friction below you it lets you focus on the pure essence," Tony Hawk said.

The hover-board is made of two machined pieces of paramagnetic titanium giving it the strength-to-weight ratio needed to lift off the ground. It has a 180 degree rotating footpad to give the rider an optimal stance. The HUVr App, coming soon to Androids and iPhones, is your board's control center that allows you to track your your paths, distance, speed and travel time and share it to social media.

Mark Cuban is on board. "Once in a rare while do you get the chance to be part of something this big. This is one of those times. I've never been so excited for a product I've invested in. This (fleeting expletive) this is going to change the world!," he said on the HUVrTech homepage.

HUVrTech's website encourages you to join the revolution as they introduce a new frontier of science and customize your own hover-board and share it with your friends.

Whether or not you think the video is real, most people can agree that hover-boards would be awesome and easily the year's most popular Christmas present.

Update:

KPCC decided to rain on everyone's parade and prove that this is a Funny or Die hoax:

A costume designer who worked on the shoot posted the experience on her online resume, which was later pulled. You can view the cache here.

The "lead engineer" seen in the film is an actor, Nelson Cheng, whose website you can see here.

Christopher Lloyd also mentioned doing a shoot with Funny or Die late last year on the Nerdist podcast.

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