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It’s real: The ArcaBoard makes the hoverboard dream a reality

The future is here

05.01.2016

By Su Fen Tan

It’s real: The ArcaBoard makes the hoverboard dream a reality

It all started with the Back to the Future films: Marty McFly made the hoverboard seem like the coolest personal transportation around. It’s easy to see why the idea was such a hit with the public—who wouldn’t want to zip through traffic in a breeze, and ride across water as you wish? Since then, there has been more than a few attempts to make the hoverboard dream a reality.

 

Lexus made a splash on the Internet last year when it released video footage of the Lexus Slide hoverboard in action. It certainly got people talking as it looked like something out of the Back to the Future films—a legit futuristic skateboard. The catch is: it runs on a combination of superconductors, magnets and liquid nitrogen, requiring a special magnetic technology to be implanted in the ground for it to function.

Then, the ArcaBoard came to light recently: a mobile platform that actually hovers above the ground. Lifted by 36 high power electric ducted fans with a maximum thrust of 200kgf (430lbs), it can take a rider across any terrain or water as a built-in stabilisation unit allows it to remain stable in any condition. But admittedly, it still has some way to go. The size is on the bulky end of the spectrum, and it only runs for a maximum of six minutes. But hey, we are that much closer to our Marty McFly hoverboard dreams. Check out the making of the Arcaboard in the video below:

 

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